Star Fox Recruits
by Dakari-King Mykan
Summary: In the year 2050, three OC expert gamers are mysteriously warped to the Lylat system where they rely on their skills to participate in a war againsnt Andross. The only thing is, if they die... IT'S GAME OVER! Saurian Language, and FOXxKRYSTAL luv included
1. The X Team

_**Author's notes:**_

_**The Mykan character is not really me, or base don me at all. It's all fictional, and that goes the same for his siblings. I made OC's and gave them names that suited them.**_

**CHAPTER ONE**

Planet Earth, in the year 2050… quite a load of things had changed, but it wasn't what you'd normally expect to see. Jetpacks, laser-guns, or things like that… but one of the awesome things that had evolved was the style of videogames played.

Some arcades now came with these amazing virtual reality simulators where you'd actually get to be a part of the game instead of just control it form a chair.

One of the games that was by far the most popular was called _"Space Recruits"_ It was a game based on being a space mercenary, flying spaceships, shooting bad guys, questing through planets and sectors… all that stuff.

In fact, the game was pretty much considered the greatest in the world that some people came from all over just to sample it, or even participate in tournaments where the prize was a load of cash.

…

Today, it was just an ordinary day at the arcade; some skilled, yet bullying players were challenging suckers to a game of Star-Recruits. They clobbered every gamer who stood up to them, and did their best to rub it in their face.

"Loser… why don't you stick to playing Hide and Seek..."

"What a geek…"

The players climbed out of their virtual-pods in shame; _there were five pods in all_… but some of the teenagers in the crowd were actually cheering for the bullies. "All right… who's next?" one of the bullies snarled.

No one stepped forward. "You lousy bunch a wimps…" snickered the other bully. "Guess we win it all then… Ha-Ha!"

"_Not so fast…!"_ called a voice from over at the entrance. Everyone turned and gasped in shock as the X-files theme was heard very the stereo speakers.

Three teenage siblings were standing at the door, dressed in the same outfits, but different colors; Sporting T-shirts, _the kind with hardly any sleeves_, track-pants, black boots and all wearing shades over their eyes. Also… right on the left upper-side of each of their shirts was a marking of an X, and little stars around it.

The one on the left in the blue outfit was the youngest. A young sixteen year-old named Donny. The second one of the far right in the dark purple outfit was a seventeen year-old girl with long dark hair. He name was Erin…. And the tall guy in the middle in the black outfit, who was also the eldest; at age eighteen… that was me.

My name's Mykan McClain. The leader of the greatest team of gamers in the entire city, _"The X-Team"_ and I was the one who called out to he bullies.

The crowd of teenagers felt as if there was going to be a cowboy showdown as we walked our way towards the pods. We were all really that good… so good in fact, that nobody ever beat us so far.

We stopped before the pods and gazed at the bullies. One of the cheerleaders in the back said, "Hey, you might want to back out while you can." She cried. "That's the X-Team."

The first bully didn't care as much, "I'm glad these chumps are here." He gloated. "Now I'll have the honor of kicking their butts across the floor and prove how strong they aren't."

I smiled wickedly and chuckled softly, "Hmm, mm…"

"Hey… what are you laughing at?" the bully asked me.

"Just that you… talk like such a little kid…" I said. "You couldn't beat us if your own reputation as a big loser depended on it, and we're going to prove it to you."

The bullies were losing their patients and told us to sit in the pods. We did as we were told, and strapped ourselves in ready to have our minds uploaded to the game. "You fellas just don't know what you're in for." Erin said.

"Rock on…" added Donny. "No one's beaten us yet, and we're going to keep it that way."

The bullies didn't care much, and the game was finally starting up. We all found ourselves standing aboard a station in orbit around a planet in the midst of space. The first bully challenged Donny to the first game. It was a circuit race, best of five laps around the planet. Whoever made it to the end first, or managed not to destroy their ship would be the winner.

Donny and the Bully climbed into their ships and were transported to the starting line. "Ready… GO!" The bully tore across the planet, through forests, past mountains, into large cites… but Donny just stood where he was at the starting line just sitting casually in his ship.

"_Hey! What do you think you're doing…?"_ he shouted at Donny over the radio.

"Oh, nothing really…" Donny answered. "Just that I'm proving that you can't win even with a giant head start."

The bully felt insulted, but not giving into to Donny taunting he continued to zoom through the planet, until he was already two and a half laps ahead. "Okay… I think that's long enough." Donny said. "Ready or not… HERE I COME!" and he pounded on his ships accelerating and took off like a missile.

"What the--" cried the Bully as he could see Donny just tearing through the planet and always gaining speed. He even took short cuts through the buildings and forests that were thought to have been suicidal, yet he piloted his ship with such grace and timing.

He caught straight up with the bully and then out lapped him four to three. ""Oh no you don't!" the bully growled, and he tried the same stunts Donny did, but only to crash, and damage his ship badly with his poor lack of experience and over confidence. "Ahh! Oh, no…!"

"Oh, yeah…" chuckled Donny, "TAKE THIS…!" and he nudged the bully's ship with his own causing it to crash and explode, "AAAAHHH…!" Donny didn't even cross the finish line, and he was declared the winner when he was warped back to the station with the bully.

The bullies were not finished yet, and began to challenge us to other game in Star-Recruits. Erin was challenged to navigate through a temple and collect a treasure without getting hurt by traps, or get lost along the way.

There many monsters in the temple as well, but with her gaming skills, and from what she learned in gymnastics, she tore right through all the monsters and obstacles as if they were made of paper, making the bullies lose again.

Then I was challenged to a ship command battle. Whereas one ship would try and shoots many of the targets as they could. "This is too easy…." I gloated. The bullies had had their fill and challenged us to the big battle…

It was a ship showdown where we'd all fly in an arena on teams and try to shoot the other team down. The bullies proved to be much better this time, as they were pretty good at piloting ships and aiming carefully… but I and my team always had plans.

I turned n the radio and spoke to Donny and Erin using our own secret coded language we thought to have made up. _"A'cc we ed uxout... 0ei kne kubo 0eih fejakaedj."_ I instructed.

"_Sef0 kxuk!"_ said Erin

"_0ei wek ak, rhe."_ added Donny.

The bullies couldn't understand a word that we just said, which was exactly what we wanted. They wouldn't figure out what we were up to. "Move your ship, dummy!" the first bully said to the other, "What are you waiting for, get'em!"

Their giant war-ships charged from my tiny little pilot ship, and fired its lasers at me. "Excuse me… pardon me… thank you." I mocked as I dodged each blow effortlessly, which allowed Donny to sneak up from behind the ship… but the seconds bully was right there on his tail.

Luckily I spotted him in time… _"Donny… Wok eik ev kxoho, xo'j ed 0eih kuac!"_

Donny, caught a quick glimpse of the ship behind him, and looped out of the way _"Ucc hawxk wi0j, don fcud!"_ I declared. My teammates agreed and assumed new positioned.

The bullies were losing they're patience. "All right you freaks, time to lay you out."

My teammates and I just remained focused, and we charged straight at the ships like charging bulls. _"Boof ak kawxk wi0j!"_ I said.

As we got closer and closer, _"Seloh mo... A kxadb A xulo u scouh jxek."_ said Erin. The bullies of course, who didn't understand a word we said, assumed they had won. "Die, X-Team!" they chanted, but as their ships opened their fire-compartments ready to shoot…

"_DEN…!"_ I shouted, and Donny and I quickly hung U-turns, and Erin fired two hue missiles from her ship which caught the bullies by surprise.

POW! They were shot, and they're ships exploded… which sent the bullies minds back to their bodies in the real world, while all the teenagers who were watching on the big screen cheered for joy as heroic music played…

_**(Star Fox SNES "Space Course Clear")**_

"_Ucc jxafj, sxosb ad…!"_ I called to the other two ships.

"_A'm xoho, Mykan."_ answered Erin.

"_De jnouk, rhe!" _added Donny.

The music continued to play as the ships flew in formation through space. One by one, they each blasted away, and the long list of scores marked in first-place, "TXT" which stood for, _"The X-Team."_ But then again, all the scores were "TXT" indicating the numerous times we had won.

We stepped out from the virtual pods, where the DJ in charge of the gaming systems declared. "Dudes and lady-dudes. Still the champions of Space-Recruits, and dubbed best in the town… The X-Team!"

The crowd went wild, but the bullies were so ashamed, and humiliated. Then we gazed down at the boys. "You two only succeed through bullying, and over confidence, and that is why you lost." I said. "But if you really believe in what you fight for, there is nothing you can't do."

Erin put her hand on my shoulder. "Don't lecture these bums, Mykan." she said. "They'll never learn otherwise."

"Yeah… we're out of here." Donny suggested and we all left, once again undefeated. Yes, we were the greatest gamers in town, and it was fun… but little did we dream that very soon, our lives were about to be given a challenge like no other.


	2. Something's about to happen

**CHAPTER TWO**

Out in space, about four-thousand light-years or so from the Earth's solar system, there was another place known as the Lylat system. A place whereas many of the populace consisted of human sized animals that had the intelligence and many of the technologies of humans…

However, no humans ever existed in the Lylat system, nor had anyone ever seen it before… but that was all about to change very soon…

…

With Andross gone and no new enemies for a while yet, the Great Fox had been just boringly wandered around the system on patrol. At least with the large amounts of payment received from General Pepper, Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad managed to renovate some of the ship's interior. They added simple things like a games room, where they could play music, snack on junk-food, and hassle around all they wanted.

What Falco Lombardi didn't understand was, "Why the heck would you add extra cabins? No one's ever going to dock on this ship just like that."

"You never know, Falco…" Peppy said as he straightened his glasses, "You know what Fox always says? _Even though it hasn't happened, doesn't mean it ever won't."_

Falco sighed irritably, "Yeah, yeah… whatever…"

That's when he noticed that Slippy and ROB were hammering and drilling and making a whole lot of other noise on the other side of the command-deck. "Hey! Will you knock it off over there?"

"Sorry Falco…" Slippy said. "But I'm so close to perfecting my newest invention."

Falco chuckled mockingly, "Are you still on about that ridiculous theory of yours?" he asked…

Slippy had been working on a device that would hopefully, and in theory, be able to capture and relay images from other star-systems around the galaxy. It had gotten so bored during patrol that Slippy needed a new hobby, so he decided to study other worlds, and hopefully find other sources of life out there…

Falco only though his egg-sized brain was messed up again. "ROB, tell Slippy that the chances of life being out there are completely bogus."

ROB shook his metal head, _"Such probabilities are well balance…"_ he said. _"The odds are only slightly in our favor."_

"All right… settle down your guys." Peppy said. "Imagine what if Fox or Krystal came up here and found you guys arguing again."

Slippy and Falco weren't really too concerned about that, while it was true that Fox and Krystal didn't like it when the team had its troubles, lately… Fox had been having troubles of his own.

…

Fox McCloud was lying on his bed with his eyes open, and hid arms behind his head. He just lay there, starring upwards at the ceiling.

His mind wasn't focused much on patrol, or Slippy's theory of life being out there. He was all focused on the girl in the cabin next to his, Krystal. She was just so amazing, the way she had become a skilled pilot, and how her telepathic ways, and combat skills helped a lot in missions…

She was so beautiful to Fox, that there was no doubt in his mind that he was in love with her. The others were all well aware of this… especially Krystal, whom at that moment was lying on her own bed and thinking about Fox…

He really meant a lot to her, the way he saved her life on planet Sauria, and how he always looked after her, and shown soft sides of deep concern for her safety.

It was even funny how at times he wouldn't admit aloud that he was in love with her for fear of growing soft, and losing his tough-guy charms. Still… she loved him, not just for saving her life, but for also giving her home and protection as she really had no other place to go since her planet was gone, and both her parents dead.

Still… they hadn't even gone on a single date, but they did get to spend some alone time on missions together, and each and every time when one of the crewmates were calling in, they would always give Fox a lovey-dovey expression, which made Fox go all numb, and Krystal laugh…

Still… just once, she wished that Fox would just forget about his tough-guy act and prove that he really loved her, and more than just come out and say it. She really, REALLY, wanted him to prove it.

_**Meanwhile**_…

On a planet called Venom…

The Planet was looking sorrier than ever. The air as filthy. The waters were intoxicating… all this because of Andross' forces.

At this very moment, in an underground lair, several robots, weapons, and large monstrous creations were being manufactured at an alarming rate. Some of the robots were already prepping some of the large creations for launch…

All of this was being supervised by a mysterious stranger whom at this moment was being given a report by his number-one robots. General-Tobor… _which was basically "Robot" spelled backwards._

"_Master…"_ he spoke, _"I am happy to report that you latest plot is way ahead of it's time. On your orders, we shall being launching procedure."_

The stranger twiddled his _metal-fingers_ sinisterly. _"Excellent…"_ he spoke in a monotone-voice. _"Finally I get to finish what I started… and this time… no one will stop me. Not even the great Fox McCloud."_

He stepped out from the shadows, laughing manically, and his full body was shown in the light to resemble a very strong monkey, with a robot body. _"I am Andross… reborn! Ha, ha, ah, ah, ah! Ah, ha, ha, ah, ah, ahh…!"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

Back on Earth…

Donny, Erin, and I had gone home to our apartment where we lived by ourselves. No, we weren't orphans just that our parents were huge successful business people who had travel a lot on business, but they trusted us to look after ourselves, and that's just what we did.

Summer time had just started and school was out. I of course was a graduate, and already trying to make my way into college. While Erin and Donny were still in senior-high.

Of course we all had steady jobs… as a matter of fact we all had the same job as, you guessed it, video-game testers. People were so amazed by our skills, as well as the fact that in school we all got top marks in graphics, and physics, not to mention mechanics, and gym, that we were given the privilege to test out new games, and new virtual-simulators for money. That and the gaming tournaments we had won awarded cash as the first prize.

Today however, we were just at home taking it easy. By that of course were just lounging around and doing what we felt like. I was in our game room practicing in our own virtual simulation where I was battling an image of myself in a battle of staffs, which was by far my favorite weapon to use in combat, apart from a blaster.

"_One can only be a master when one is able to overcome himself."_ that was the sacred rulings. How do you think I became so skilled anyway?

Donny was in his room studying, while Erin was in the lounge, with a bowl of popcorn as she watched a movie on the sofa. It was just one of those bitter sweet romantic pictures, "Ugh…!" she sighed, "Where do they come up with his stuff...?"

As the movie paused for a station break, something suddenly caught her eye. "Hey! Mykan, Donny, get in here!" she cried. Donny and I rushed over in a second, and we saw what she was referring too…

There was a commercial about a new generation virtual-reality coming to arcades any day now as their construction and testing were soon to be completed. It was a VR-Game that let you choose your own adventure, and how easy or difficult you wanted it to be.

"Dude… most excellent timing." Donny said. "We got to try that."

"You bet we do, and we're going to…" I said. "Mom and Dad called last night, and they sent us _these."_ I held up three tickets to the testing of the VR-System that many had tried for, but our parents phoned ahead and bagged us the job of being the first testers of the game.

"All right…" Erin said as she took her ticket from me.

"When do we test it out…?" Donny asked.

"In a couple more days…" I answered. "Their first stop is here in town at the arcade, and they're setting up now."

We all slapped high-fives, and then we all headed into the game room to start practicing and getting our skills warmed up.

_If we had only known what was going to happen… we probably would have turned down the offer…!_


	3. The Mysterious Warp

**CHAPTER THREE**

By this point the Great-Fox was nearing Corneria. "There it is… home sweet home." Peppy said.

"About time too…" added Falco, "If I had to spend one more day in this steel-hulled prison I'd go nuts."

"You wanted to rejoin the team, Falco…" Fox said.

"I must've been crazy." grumbled Falco. He covered his ears when he heard Slippy and ROB working on their machine again, hammering and drilling. Even Fox was getting annoyed with it, "Awe, Slippy…" he cried, "Can't you wait until after we land to finish that junk heap?"

"Oh Fox, let him work…" Krystal said. "I'd actually like to see how this works too."

Slippy smiled, "Thanks Krystal… and you may not have to wait as long. We're all finished."

"_Affirmative…"_ added ROB _"All preparations, and wirings have been resolved, and we are ready to launch our first test."_

Slippy connected his machine to one of the radar scanners, and just pointed it out into space at a random position. "Okay, ROB, turn on the juice."

"_Affirmative…"_ ROB responded and he flipped the switch which sent the signals soaring across the cosmos, and taking pictures of things that were way out there, and relayed the pictures back to the Great Fox instantly. "Wow… this is perfect." Slippy cried for joy as he examined his snapshots.

He had snapped shots of stars, planets, and even a few nebulas found outside the Lylat System. Even Peppy was amazed, "Slippy, this is incredible." he complimented. "This could be a chance to study whole new star-systems, and make new star-maps."

Slippy received compliments from everyone, even Falco himself was somewhat impressed. "Just wait until General Pepper hears about this." he said sounding confident, and just at that moment… the video-wave computer was activated, _"General Pepper here."_

"Wow. What timing." Fox said.

Slippy dashed to the monitor. "General… I've got something incredible to show you…" he said sounded so eager.

"_I'm afraid whatever it is will have to wait Slippy."_ Replied Pepper, _"I have a mission for you Star Fox team."_

Fox and Falco rubbed their heads in disappointment, and just when they were so close to going home. "What's the matter sir?" Fox asked.

Pepper reported that the Cornerian tracking systems had detected strange activities occurring on Venom, and were now scattered across the Lylat system. _"I want you to head for Venom immediately to investigate, and report back immediately. This could be a new threat to our beloved system, and we must know as soon as possible."_

"Are you sure that's a safe idea…?" Peppy asked. "Wouldn't it be smarter to refuel first and then investigate?"

"_I'm afraid the situation may already be dire, Peppy."_ Pepper answered, _"We must know as soon as possible. You have enough fuel and power; you should be able to make it there and back safely. Pepper out."_

Fox was disappointed, "Oh well… at least we get to have a piece of some action now."

Pepper buzzed in again, _"Oh, and one more thing Fox, no heroics. Pepper out."_

Fox slapped his brow, "Aw, man… he always picks the best times to ruin everything."

Krystal giggled at him, and so did Peppy. "With no time to fuel up we shouldn't take the risk anyways, Fox." The wise old hare said.

Fox, a macho as he preferred to act, would never disobey regulations, "Well, we got our mission. ROB, set our course for Venom."

"_Understood…"_ said ROB, _"Course plotted and interested. Estimated time of arrival at maximum speed, two point three days…"_

"Well, that's settled, I'm going to get me some grub." Falco said as he exited the command-deck. "I'm up for that…" added Slippy.

Soon everyone decided to head to the food-bay, while ROB stayed on the command-deck to guide the ship. The only problem was… Slippy had forgotten to turn off his image-transporter, and usually one of the things about Slippy's inventions was they always had a few bugs or so in them… especially if they were left on for a long time.

The image-transporter was beaming its signal off in one direction, and it would just keep going and going until it hit something… but while the power was still turned-on, who knew what it would do.

_**Two days later**_…

The arcade was closing for the day, but I and my team were invited to check out the new VR-pods that we would be testing out the next day. "Hmm… interesting concept..." Donny said as he examined the pods inside and out. "Velvet seating... Chrome-platted exterior…"

The supervisor who was in charge of the setting up of the pods was glad that we approved of the set up. "We look forward to your high opinions during the demonstration tomorrow at the unveiling. I assure you, you'll be paid handsomely for your cooperation."

I shook hands with the man and said what I said to all gaming technicians who hired us for testing. "Congratulations. You just hired The X-Team."

Erin and Donny nodded, and then it was time for us to leave, but while on our way out Donny suddenly stopped. "Hey! Where's my house-key?"

"Didn't you have it with you while we were at the arcade?" asked Erin.

Donny nodded and assumed he must've dropped it inside. "I'll run back and get it…" I offered, and I began to dash back to the arcade, and luckily no one had left yet and the doors were still open. I asked if I could look for my brother's key in the room where the pods were still being setup. "Oh, sure go right ahead…" the supervisor agreed.

I walked into the back room, no one was there. I checked around the floor, on the equipment, and finally in one of the pods. "Ah! There it is…" right on the far end of the inside of the pod.

I reached for it, but as I got closer my hand began to sparkle and fade. "Huh…? Whoa!" I quickly pulled back and my hand was fine. "What in the name of Virtual-Reality…?" I looked down in the area where my hand just was, and moved my hand back into it only to see the same thing happen.

I pulled back again… "What the heck…?"

I leaned in closer but suddenly, I lost my footing and tumbled into the pod. "Whoa…!" my whole body was sparkling and fading before my eyes. "Holy GAME-ZOOOONE…!" I shouted as in a flash… my whole body had vanished.

The supervisor rushed in when they heard my scream, "Mykan! Are you alright… Where are you?" He found my brother's key, reaching thought he other side of the pod where he didn't get caught by whatever swallowed me. He began to get a bad feeling in his gut.

As for me-- I couldn't see myself. or even determine where I was going as I seemed to be flying through a swirling, colorful vortex, _"Whoa-oa-oa-OA-OA-OA-OAHHHHHHHHH…WHERE AM I GOINIIIIIIIIING…?"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

The Great Fox had just locked into orbit around Venom. "We're here…" Slippy said.

"Thanks Slippy… we can see that." Falco said sarcastically.

"Okay, knock it off you two." Fox said, "ROB… can you detect anything unusual happening down there?"

"_Negative…"_ ROB had to say, _"Analysis of signals classified as insufficient data."_

"Well something's going on down there…" Peppy said. "We'll have to take a closer visual approach."

"Right, Falco and I will take the Arwings and try to get in closer." Fox said, "It's the only way."

Peppy had to agree with him there, "Two Arwings are ready. Now remember you guys, you're just going to investigate. So don't try getting into a fight."

"I'm going too…" added Krystal. She was eager to explore Venom in hopes that she would find more answers to the destruction of her planet, and the death of her parents. "Krystal… I really don't think you should…" Fox said.

Falco saw his chance, "What's the matter Fox? Shy that she'll be around, flying with you side-by-side?"

Slippy laughed, and so did Peppy. Fox blushed in embarrassment. "Hey!" he snapped, and then he noticed Krystal was giggled softly. "Look I just want her to risk it that's all… we don't what's down there."

"All the more reason I should come so we'd cover more ground." Krystal cut in, but Peppy disapproved of the idea. "Fox is right, Krystal… this shouldn't take too long anyway. But you can at least remain on standby in case trouble occurs."

Krystal sighed, "All right… but honestly I don't know why I even bother."

Everyone headed off to the Arwing-deck, including ROB… but while they were gone, Slippy machine which was still not turned off began to glow, and shake with stress. Then all of a sudden… POW!

"Ah…!" I appeared in a flash of bright light in what appeared to be a control-room on a ship. "Whoa… what was that all about?" I wondered. I began to believe that it was possible that I had been transported into the VR-game; the pods were plugged in while I was looking.

"What sort of game is this…?" I wondered as I gazed round at all the controls. "Where's my inventory…?"

…

While down in the Arwing-deck Fox and Falco were already seated and their ships were ready to launch. Krystal was remaining in her Arwing on standby. "Good luck Fox…" she said to him over the radio. "Come back to safely…"

Fox shook his head while smiling, but Falco just had to mock him again, "Whoo… things are looking hot there lover-boy."

Fox's features hardened, "Knock it off, Falco! Let's go already!" he said harshly, but the others were all laughing. "Stand by to launch…" Peppy said from the control-deck, and in no time at all Fox and Falco were on their way.


	4. Intruder alert

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Andross' robots detected two small vessels entering the planet's atmosphere, and a larger one in orbit. _"Master, the Star-Fox team has entered out home-world."_

"_Star-Fox…?"_ Andross asked in near disbelief. _"Mmm… this should prove most interesting. Prepare a surprise attack-force at once!"_ he ordered, _"Prepare yourself Fox McCloud. Hmm, mm, mm…"_

…

Fox and Falco flew their Arwings around different sectors of the planet. So far there was nothing unusual. Just miles of pollution and decay, "Negative on this end…" Fox said. "How about you Falco…?"

All he could hear was Falco sarcastically snoring over the radio. "Does that answer your question?"

Fox sighed as he shook his head, and then radioed the Great Fox, "Peppy, there's nothing down here. Maybe General Pepper was--" he stopped in mid-sentence when he began to pick up signals on his radar-compass.

"_Fox…? Fox…? What's the matter?"_ Peppy asked over the radio. "I've got something on my compass, there's a whole mess of them. Falco… do you see them?"

"You bet I do…" Falco answered, "Let's get in closer and check it out."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Onboard the great Fox… Krystal was growing more anxious. "Oh, I can't just sit here like this." she ground anxiously. "No Krystal! Stay there!" Peppy told her. "You heard what Fox said…"

Krystal's fingers drummed nervously on the helm, but she relaxed and remained on standby. Just after that the alarm-system went off.

ROB was flailing his arms in panic, _"Warning! Warning! My sensors detect an intruder on the command-deck. Repeat: intruder on the command-deck."_

Peppy and Slippy turned on the screens and could see a strange creature in the control room. "Who or what is that…?" Slippy wondered.

"I don't know…" said Peppy. "Hey… I'll bet he was sent from Venom's surface to infiltrate us.

Slippy gasped, "We got to stop him. Quick, ROB, activate the security-codes."

"_Affirmative…"_ ROB responded.

…

Up on the command-deck I realized that I must've done something trigger an alarm system, and as I rushed for the exit, it was blocked off and sealed with a thick sheet of metal. "Aw, man…!" I cried. "What next…?"

I had just had to ask that and I got my answer as all the control panels began to disappear; getting covered up by strange covers, and then stun-lasers began to pop out from the ceiling, floor, and wall. "Uh-oh…!" and I began to roll, jump and dodge the blasts that began to pelt me. "Whoa…! Yikes…! Eek…!"

My game skills were really coming in handy, and I began to think that this was merely a trial in the game, but suddenly… one of the leasers barely missed my arm. "Ow…!" I felt the heat of the laser graze my arm and it really did sting slightly. "What? But video games can't hurt you physically…" I said to myself.

Then I dodged another laser that pelted me, and the gun it was shot out of was smoking with steam. That's when it all began to fit together, "I don't think is a game!" it was beginning to feel like a nightmare, only… I wasn't asleep… or was I?

Regardless, I continued to dodge the blasts…

…

Much to Peppy and Slippy's amazement… "Wow… look at that guy go!" cried Slippy.

Peppy was amazed himself, "Whoever he is… he must have very special training." He said. "ROB, activate the knock-out gas on the command-deck."

"_Affirmative…"_ ROB responded. This time there was no escape for me. "Hey!" I said feeling weary, "What's going… on…?" and I just collapsed on the floor sleeping like a log.

"Well, that takes care of him…" Peppy said, but then suddenly he heard the sound of an Arwing firing its thrusters, and the hatchway opening. "Krystal…! Krystal, come back!" but she was already gone; saw her chance while none of the others were watching.

"Never mind that Peppy… we've got an intruder to deal with" said Slippy, and he went off to the command-deck with ROB. "Be careful!" Peppy warned him, "We don't know anything about that guy or what's he's really capable of."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Fox and Falco had indeed located the source of the signals. It was a swarm of robotic ships of likes which they had never encountered before. They tried to avoid them by flying away, but these robots were programmed for only one purpose… to destroy Fox and Falco, and not to stop until they were done.

"Don't these guys ever give up?" Falco sneered.

He and Fox saw no choice but to engage in combat, but as they fired their lasers, the robots dodged the beams effortlessly. "Don't tell me… there's also programmed to behave like expert pilots too…?" Fox asked rhetorically.

They continuously tried to shoot down the robots, but they were barley able to even get them their sights either as the robots were program _that _well. It grew even worse when the robots began to fire their own lasers and plasma-balls. Fox and Falco were hit hard.

"Whoa…!"

"Gah…!"

Then suddenly, on their communication screens, someone was contacting them. _"Ha, ha, ah, ah, ah…!_ _How goes the weather, Fox McCloud?"_

Fox and Falco gasped in shock and anger. _"ANDROSS…?"_

"It can't be…" cried Fox, but it was true, he was back, and t became obvious that he was the one who built those machines out there. _"Say hello to your father when you see him in the other world, Fox! Ha, ha, ha…"_ Andross replied before signing off.

As soon as he logged off, more robots began to soar into the air, surrounding Fox and Falco's Arwings from many sides. "Nice… a whole party, and I'm guessing we're about to be thrown out the door." Falco stated.

There was far too many ships to attack, Fox and Falco saw it to divert most of their energy to the shields, and try to find a way out, but no matter how hard they tried, the robots seemed to block every single way, and just trying to go straight up proved no good either, as many of the ships outside the formed ring were firing their plasma balls and lasers far too much…

With no way out, Fox and Falco were sitting ducks just taking hit after hit of those lethal weapons, and even at maximum power, their shields wouldn't last long. "They begged me to come back, begged me!" Falco growled.

Fox couldn't blame him for saying that, even he himself could seem to find a way out. "Unless…" He just had an idea, and flew his ship close to a swarm of the robots, "What are up to Fox?" Falco wondered.

"Trust me!" Fox said.

He waited for it, and even mocked at the robots, "Here… shoot me, I'm over here." The Robots fired their weapons, and Fox dodged at the last moment causing the lasers to miss him and shoot down the other robots that were behind him, and as some of the other robots tried to evade, they ended up crashing into each other, making others crash into each other blowing the ring of robots to shreds.

Poor Fox and Falco felt like they were spinning in a black-hole as the fires from the explosions combined together rocked their ships about and seriously draining their shields… they barely made it out, but they were still in one piece, but a few swarms of the robots were left, and Fox and Falco only had enough power to make it back to the great Fox. "Let's get out of here!" Fox ordered.

"Don't have to tell me twice…" added Falco, and they began to zoom away as fast as they could with the robots on their tail. "They're gaining on us… we gotta' fire…"

"No, Falco…" cried Fox, "The power levels are too low. If we shoot now we'll never make it back."

"Yeah, but we won't make it back if those guys get us either!" protested Falco.

It was just no use, the Robots were getting closer still… but just then, two nova-bombs fell from the air and blasted at the robots completely distracting them from their flight path. "Fox… Falco! Are you two alright?"

"Krystal!" cried Fox. "I've never been happier to see you before." But suddenly he realized what he just said which made both he and Krystal feel shy. "Hate to break up you two… but can you woo each other when we get back?" Falco asked irritably.

Fox and Krystal sighed, but nevertheless, they were successfully able to make it out of the planet and back to the great Fox where they made a perfect get away… or so they thought.

For in Andross' secret lair, _"Master…!"_ cried Tobor, _"Sensors have indicated that many of our robots have been shot down, and the Star Fox team is escaping."_

Andross was indeed infuriated by this, but he was smiling wickedly. He never really intended to destroy Fox right then and there after all. _If he had, it would have been okay._ _"Now with the Arwings out of power and the Great-Fox vulnerable to attack…I believe the time has come to test out one of my more powerful machines."_

He sat down on his throne and began to scroll through his computer, _"I believe this one shall serve me justice. Begin course change, and charge weapons. Target… the Great Fox. Hmm, mm, mm…!"_

…

Back on the Great-Fox, the pilots were safe, but the Arwings were in need of major overhauls now. Fox even reported to General Pepper about what he and Falco had learned. _"So… Andross is back, eh? I should have guessed that right from the start."_

Fox and Falco nodded, "If it wasn't for Krystal… those robots would have clobbered us entirely." Fox said. "I think that was just a warning of what he's got in store for the rest of us"

"_You may be right, Fox."_ Pepper said. _"Nevertheless, I want all Star-Fox members to report back to base in the shortest possible time. We must discus on this matter more in person. Pepper out."_

"Do you suppose this means that we're going to be on another mission soon?" Krystal asked.

"I don't know what to think…" Fox answered, "All I know is… if Andross is back, and he's building these super-robots, who know what could be in store for the Lylat System."

Suddenly, Peppy remembered. "Oh, Fox… I almost forgot about the intruder we captured."

He led everyone to the prison-cells where I was locked in a cell that had an invisible shield instead of bars. "Oh, may goodness!" cried Krystal. "What is it…?"

"We don't know…" Slippy said. "Even ROB wasn't able to determine what he is, but we think he could've been sent here by Andross."

Falco thought Slippy's cap was on too tight again. "I'll admit that Andross is pretty crafty, but I doubt even he could build anything like _this."_

Krystal however was convinced that I wasn't anything to beware of, but she did think I deserved a little medical treatment from my slight injuries, and from the dosage of gas I inhaled.

"Let's get him to the sick bay…" she suggested and the others helped her push the hover-bed. They all couldn't wait for me to wake up, and learn more about what mysterious being I was.


	5. Incredible discoveries

**CHAPTER FIVE**

On Earth, it was getting late…

"Man where the heck is he?" Donny asked for the umpteenth time. "Two hours and-a-half late…? Two and a-half…!"

"Lighten up, Donny." Erin said. "Mykan's never out this late for no reason. They probably wanted him to test another game or something…"

Donny gave Erin a look of disbelief. Erin realized he was right… I never tested games alone, and always requested that the X-Team be all present. "I'm sure he'll be back soon…" Erin said.

She sat back on the sofa turned on the news, _"And now the weather. It's beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine…? More on that later…"_

Erin and Donny looked at each other in looks of dismay. "It beats me where they pick up bozos like this." Donny whispered.

"_This… This news just in; concerning the disappearance of eighteen year-old boy… The boy being positively identified as city-champion gamer, Mykan McClain…"_

Erin and Donny leapt up from the sofa in shock. "What the--"

"_Mr. McClain, the leader of the city champion gaming team, The X-Team… was last seen at the city-wide arcade retrieving a lost item, he walked into a stockroom, but was never seen leaving, nor was he located anywhere in the room."_

Just then, the phone rang… it was the police asking Donny, and Erin to report to the arcade immediately for questioning, and possible help in the search. They dashed out of the apartment in a split second both wondering what could've happened to me…

_**Meanwhile**_…

Fox and crew were in the sick-bay tending to me. My injuries were bandaged up, and they removed my shades to place a cold cloth on my forehead. That's when I began to awaken. "Hey… I think he's coming too…" Fox said.

"It's about time…" Falco said impatiently.

Krystal hushed them all to keep their voices down as she and Fox knelt in closer…

My head felt like it was run over by a truck. "Ohh… Ahh..." I opened my heavy eyes and the minute the room stopped spinning; Krystal knelt in closer, "Are you alright…?" she asked me.

I came to my sense and realized what was going on, "GAAAH…!" I gasped in shock and fell off the bed. Kyrtsal and Fox winced at my reaction, "Get back! Get Back!" I cried as I inched away. "Dogs can't talk…"

"Hey! Whoa-hoa-hoa, watch t there bucko." The brown creature snapped at me, "We're not dogs. Can't you tell the difference between a fox, and a vixen?"

I also noticed the other animals, a Toad, a Falcon, and a Hare. "Foxes and Vixens don't talk either." I said, "And neither do any other animals." I was also amazed by how large they seemed, almost up to my own height.

The toad approached me, "Well our lips are moving and words are coming out."

The blue Vixen tried to calm me down and urge me to lie back on the bed. "Just stay away from me!" I cried still inching away. I knew for a fact that I wasn't in any game because I remember getting hurt from dogging those lasers… which could only mean in thing… this was all real!

I grabbed a piece of equipment lying on a tray and grabbed hold of the old hare holding him hostage. "Alright… nobody move or this old timer gets it!" I growled. "All right, now I want some questions, and I want them now."

"Answers…" the Hare said. "I think you mean you want answers."

I nodded nervously, "Yeah…thanks, answers. I want answers! What's going on here? Where am I? How did I get here? Who are all of you?"

The creatures all looked at each other in confusion, "You don't know where you are?" the falcon asked me, "Shesh… talk about awkward."

The toad approached me and made me let go of the hare and the tool I was holding. "Well uh… I guess we should at least ought to introduce ourselves first." He said, "Uh… hello… I'm Slippy, the handy one. Uh… he's Peppy, he's the wisest."

Peppy tipped his glasses at me in greeting.

"Uh… that's Falco Lombardi."

"The awesome one…" Falco cut in.

This is ROB. He's a robot, and that's Krystal."

The brown fox stepped forward, "And I'm Fox McCloud… lead pilot of the Star-Fox team in the Lylat system."

I was charmed and impressed to meet all these creatures, but, "Ly-lat… System…?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Fox sighed and then using his wrist-computer he generated a map of the entire system, and our current position which made me realize I was on a ship in outer-space…!

"Uh… o-kaaay…" I stuttered. "Uh… can you like zoom out further…?" Fox did so and kept zooming out until I could plainly see that I was still in the Milky Way galaxy… only, the flashing dot that showed our current position was near the center of the galaxy and nowhere near the Orion arm where the Earth would be located.

My eyes bulged wide and my body began to shake vigorously, "Oh, my god…!" I kept saying over and over again still unable to believe that I had traveled thousands of light-years to another star-system inhabited by human sized animals…

"I think I'll sit down now…" I whimpered while still shaking in my boots. That's when I noticed everyone staring at me funny. "What may I ask are you staring at?"

Fox and Krystal were wondering where my _tail_ was? "Tail…? I don't have a tail. I'm not an animal."

"Well then, what are you Mykan?" Slippy asked.

I gazed at him in shock, "What? How did you know my name…?"

"Duh…!" Falco said, "We went thorough your pockets while you were out of It." he held up my game-member's card. "So… _Mykan McClain_… could you answer the question?"

Seeing as how everyone was eager to know, I told them pretty well everything, that was a human being and I came from a planet called Earth, thousands of light years away. It amazed me to gear them all state that they had never seen a human before, yet they felt they knew I could understand and cope with them.

I suddenly began to feel less afraid and more excited and giddy. This was the greatest discovery of the entire human race, "There _is_ intelligent life out here in the Universe."

The others smiled, while some, as in Falco and Fox could see this was going to be a long day. Suddenly, the warning alarm sounded again, and ROB went crazy. _"My sensors have detected an enemy vessel approaching the Great Fox. Distance, five thousand yards and closing…"_

Everyone began to rush off to the command-deck, and I decided to follow them. We could all see what was out there. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing…?" cried Fox.

A few thousand yards ahead of us was a perfect cop of the Great Fox itself, only this one had black armor instead of white. "ROB, is that the enemy ship?" Krystal asked.

"_Affirmative…"_ ROB answered, _"Code name: Black Fox. Primary weapon: Laser. Weakness: Unknown…"_

Fox sighed "Thanks... that's real helpful."

The Black Fox began to open a small hatch in its front view, and out flew two Black-Arwings. "The Arwings too…? Why can't Andross ever think of anything original?" Slippy sneered.

Still, with the Great-Fox's Arwings in need of servicing, they were out of use. Which meant the Star Fox team would have to try and take out the Black Fox with the Great-Fox's weapons. "Start charring the big-guns!" Fox ordered, "Krystal and Falco, man the mobile lasers, try and shoot down those other ships."

Krystal and Falco agreed and took their positions…

All I could do was watch form the sidelines in amazement, "_This is like Space-Recruits come to life!"_ I thought to myself. I even studied the controls and to what they did, where the weapons were, the power transfers, the steering… _just about everything I needed to know._

I even saw Flaco and Krystal at their positioning, large screens with aiming-cursors, and joysticks just like an arcade game…

They were waiting to get a perfect view of the Black-Awrings, and fired, but the Arwings managed to evade their line of fire and drop nova-bombs on the ship, causing it to rock and shake in stress. I fell off my feet, and Slippy fell out form his seat.

"Keep charging the weapons…!" Fox ordered. "We got to take out that other ship!"

"Lasers charged at fifty-percent!" cried Slippy.

So far everything was still okay, that is unless the Arwings continued to bombard us with more firepower. _"Warning…! Warning…!"_ cried ROB _"Slight breeches in sectors nine and ten ceilings…"_

Everyone gasped, even I gasped. What worried me the most was that this was no game; it was real, which meant… that if we were to die… we'd really die. _"Erin! Donny!"_

…

Meanwhile, on Earth…

Donny, and Erin were at the arcade, and being questioned by the police; things like where was I last seen… or if maybe I would just run away… but none of the descriptions worked out, and whatever happened to me was completely mystery.

While the authorities were still outside, Donny, and Erin were in the stockroom where the VR-pods were. "I can't believe this." Donny said, "All this because he had to fetch a silly key?"

"I know…" added Erin. "It just doesn't make sense." She leaned into the pod where I had climbed into, and then Donny Gasped. "Erin…!"

Erin looked behind and could see the end of her long hair was sparking and faded slightly. "Whoa…!" she gasped as she pulled away. "What was that…?"

Neither she nor Donny had the foggiest, and Donny decided to check this out, but not seeing where he was walking he snagged his foot on large cable on the floor, "Yeow…!" and he slipped, bumped into Erin, and they both fell into the pod where they vanished in a flash too… _"WHAAAAAAA…!"_

"_HEEEEEEEY…!"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

The Great-Fox's lasers were fully charged. "Fire…!" and blasted at the Black-Fox, but only to miss the ship for it had completely evaded the move. "Rats… missed it!" growled Slippy.

The Black-Fox then readied its own lasers, "Peppy, dodge it!" cried Fox

"Here goes…" Peppy responded, but he forgot about the two Arwings outside, and because Falco and Krsytal still weren't able to shoot them down, one of the two ships managed to damage the emergency retros, which meant. "I don't think we can get out of the way in time!" cried Peppy.

"Keep trying…!"

The Great-Fox barely managed to dodge the Black-Fox's big blast, and part of the outer hull was melted a little. We were still in one piece, but Peppy had bad news. "Fox, the other ship's coming after us again."

Fox realized that the Black-Fox was obviously programmed to carry out its mission and destroy us all, "We'll have to try and dodge it again."

"_Negative…"_ cried ROB, _"Database confirms the Black-Fox is now compensated for any evasive action. Probability of another successful dodge, 1.5 percent..."_

"Oh, perfect… what now McCloud?" Falco asked sternly, but Fox was fresh out of idea as nobody knew just where the Black-Fox's weak point was… except for me.

Years of video-gaming experience thought me to observe things thoroughly, and I had an idea that would possibly work, but the two Arwings had to be dealt with. "Man, this isn't working…" Falco growled.

"Every time we get them into our sights, they evade our fire." added Krystal. Finally I snapped inside, and pushed her out of her chair, "Get out of my way!" I growled as I sat myself down…

Krystal and Falco watched in shock, "What do you think you're doing…?" Fox wondered, but I didn't respond as I was focusing on the two Arwings on my screen, "Steady… steady…!" the Arwing I was following was just near the cursor and I fired the lasers endlessly and quickly, blasting it clean off the screen.

Much to the amazement of the others… "Don't just stand there!" I growled, "Charge up the weapons again, I have a plan."

Fox hesitated for a moment, and then, "Well you heard the guy… charge the lasers again!"

As we all did our work, suddenly two more humans popped up out of nowhere near Slippy's machine. "Ow…!"

"Ugh…!"

Erin and Donny rubbed their heads in frustration, but then they realized, "Mykan…?"

POW! I shot down the other Arwing with ease. "Right…!" I snapped, and then I took my place near the firing range. "Lasers charged to full power…!" Slippy said.

I then aimed the big guns carefully until they were in perfect alignment with the Black-Fox's guns. "What are you doing?" Fox asked again. "Trust me!" I told him.

I waited until the Black-Fox charged its lasers and then I fired right along with it. I fired so hard, that sent the enemy lasers right back into the Black-Fox's guns as well as sending our own fire power inside. The Black-Fox's lasers began to overheat, and they exploded!

"Hey… I think its working!" cried Peppy.

Then, I fiddled with the controls, and found the weapons changer. "Ah-ha…! Missiles!" and I quickly fired two large torpedoes into the launch bay of the Black-Fox. KAPOW! A huge explosion was triggered and the Black-Fox began to break up and exploded into dust.

Everyone was so amazed, particularly my siblings. That's the animals caught sight of them and began to act hostile again. "No wait…!" I said. "No, no… it's all right. I know them."

There was a long moment of silence. This was a very awkward moment.


	6. Welcome aboard

**CHAPTER SIX**

Andross had already received word that his Black Fox had been destroyed, but what confused him was when images from the robot cameras, before the ship was destroyed, showed him images inside the Great Fox. He got a good look of my siblings and I, _"Tobor…?"_ he asked._ "Who are these mysterious creatures with the Star Fox team?"_

Tobor regretted to report, _"Unfortunately, the computer bases are unable to identify them my lord, as we have never before encountered species such as this. But clearly, they also seek to aid Fox and his crew against our forces, so they too must be destroyed!"_

Andross agreed entirely, but for now there was little he could do about the team as we were already far out into space. Besides… he had work to do. _"Hmm, mm, mm…No matter how long I must wait, I always get my revenge…" _he sniggered. _"Always…!"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

After another repeat of introductions and realizations, Erin and Donny were up to speed, and they were only fixed on one thing now, how to get out of here. It was determined that it was in fact Slippy's machine that was what brought us to the ship…

Since he left it on for so long without turning it off, and the beam happened cast on Earth without being moved. The over usage of the power must had somehow served as a matter transporter as well as a photo taker, and that was how we got to the ship.

There were however two other problems… One of course was being Slippy only knew how to gather images, not send the back. Even if he could… the machine was broken, completely destroyed under the stress during the battle with the Black-Fox.

Erin gulped hard, "You… you mean--?"

"Yeah… I'm afraid so." Slippy answered. "It'll take a miracle to get you guys home now."

Donny, and Erin felt like their hearts were breaking, and so did mine, but I however was trying to make a strict decision. "I'm not sure we should go even if we can."

Krystal agreed in somewhat, "He did save our lives…"

"Peppy and here I thought video-games only warped the mind." Peppy chuckled. "Now I stand corrected."

Erin and Donny however wanted to speak to me strictly. "Mykan, are you crazy. We can't stay here… we got to get out of here." Donny said.

"Come on guys…!" I said trying to convince them, but the reminded me that we were gamers, not mercenary pilots and warriors. This was no place of for us.., but the sad fact was we couldn't go home, and even we could "I'm not leaving…!"

I couldn't leave these creatures, or this star-system. "Maybe we could fit in, and fight alongside them. It's like the video games we play at home, and who's better at video games than we are?"

"I'm pretty good at the games where I can start over when I lose a life…" Erin said secretly pointing out that whatever happened here was real, so if we died, it was Game over… permanently.

Thought I was well aware of that, and feeling a little more nervous than ever, I was too excited to panic. "Erin, come on. Look at where we are we're in space…"

"Donny… this is a challenge of a lifetime… and you guys want to leave?"

Erin and Donny gave up. Plus, they decided it would be better than just challenging ourselves to inexperienced gamers and things like that. Pretty much boring ourselves to death…

Fox, who had overheard us, had considered it as well, "But we'll have to see what General Pepper says when we get back to Corneria."

We all agreed, and then suddenly our stomachs began to rumble, it was already dinner time. "Boy, taking out that ship gave m an appetite." I said cheekily, and everyone shared a laugh.

…

In the food-bay, Erin, Donny and I were amazed that the creatures of the Lylat System also ate foods just like the ones we had on Earth, including Pizza, cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Donny's eyes filled with tears of joy, "I never wanted to go home in the first place." he joked as he consumed his fill.

I on the other hand was interested in finding more details. "So, Fox…" I asked. "This dude, _Andross_… I take it he's the bad-guy?"

Fox nodded and told me pretty much everything about their struggles, "And each and every time we think we get him, he just comes back again and again."

"Whoa… you think he'd have nine lives or something." Erin said. "So how do we stop him?"

Peppy explained that first it would be smarter if we reached Corneria and restocked on supplies. "It'll even give us time to analyze what we know, and determine what Andross is up to."

"Plus… I think we ought to repair and even upgrade the ship." added Slippy. "If just that one ship was hard enough for us to beat, who knows what Andross could launch next?"

"Well we'll be ready for him…" Falco said. "We've beaten that ugly brute once before, and we'll beat him again."

As we continued to eat through dinner, we began to understand each other more and more. Almost as if were all from the same system… Erin and Krystal even did some female bonding. Though Krystal wasn't as familiar with Earth techniques, she and Erin got a long great. I leaned

"_Ix ex, kxaj moudj kheirco..."_ I said to Donny. My brother and I chuckled, but Fox didn't understand a word we just said. "Huh…?"

Erin did hear us however, and before she could open her mouth to. "That wasn't very nice…" Krsytal said. Donny, and I… and even Erin were amazed.

"You know what we said…?" Donny asked.

Krsytal nodded, and replied with, _"0oj, a bden nxuk 0ei juat…"_

She was speaking in our secret language. This was soon revealed to be the exact same language spoken on a planet she and the team had visited a lot, "Whoa… and here we thought we made up the whole thing." I said sounding amazed.

But the others, particularity Fox were annoyed. "Don't you just hate it where you can't understand a word people say?" he muttered to himself. "Ugh… this is going to be a long flight…!"

…

The next we arrived at Corneria, which resembled Earth in many ways. Only, a little further into the future with all the odd buildings, and vehicles. "This is like coming home." Donny still said.

"Home was never like this…" I pointed out.

As expected, when we docked in the base, many of the officers, and staff were surprised to see humans. However, once introduced to General Pepper, and told of our heroics. "I must say… this is indeed an unfortunate, though amazing honor."

He scheduled a private meeting. The council consisted of Pepper, and his panel of high authority personnel. The Star Fox team, and of myself and Erin and Donny…

We went over the basics, about how Andross was at it again. "From what you tell me, it sounds as if he's planning to change the whole Lylat system into a machine system." Pepper suggested.

Many arguments were debated, and it was decided that Andross needed to be stopped, for already signals were coming through hat many launchings were occurring on Venom. It became obvious that Andross was only biding his time, and was not ready for a full scale attack yet...

Still, it was not safe to return to Venom yet, as we still had much to learn, and many of the planets and sectors were liable to be clapped into danger. "It is decided." Pepper declared. "The Great-Fox and the Arwings, and all other equipment must be overhauled and upgraded if we hope to have any chance of surviving Andross' new onslaught of robots menaces."

Then it moved on as to what was to be done about me and my siblings. Pepper was aware that we currently had no hopes of returning home, not until Slippy could figure out the kinks, as well as construct another machine, and even going with their fastest ships at maximum speed, the Earth being thousands of light-years away would take generations to reach… and no one had that time.

Besides… after the heroics I performed in the first enemy battle, and the promises that I and my siblings could maker with our skills, not to mention we had been exposed to high-tech secrets in any case "But, I agree with you Fox…"

"Mykan, Erin, and Donny McClain…" he announced. "We may not yet fully understand the biology of your species, and of course you yourselves still have much to learn. However, in the given circumstances I am prepared to take a calculated risk. If you all agree, I request for you all to join the force, and fly along side the Star-Fox team."

"If you wish to decline, the committee has ruled that there is nothing we can do to stop you or force you against your will."

"What do you wish to do?"

We talked about it in secret for a moment or two, and decided. "Congratulations, General Pepper…" I said. "Looks like you just recruited The X-team."

With that the deal was settled, and in the first few weeks while the weapons and vehicles were being prepped. Fox and his crew, by order of General Pepper were to train us, and teach us anything we needed to know about the Lylat system.

Being quick studies, and smart high school students, we began to catch on quickly to a load of things. Yet, during the physical training; how to fly ships, how to clear through obstacles, and use weapons, it made Peppy wonder, "Are we teaching them, or are they teaching us?"

I clobbered Krystal in our sparring with staffs…

Erin was great and combat, and using a blaster…

Donny learned the basics of controls onboard a ship like the Great-Fox…

And all three of us really impressed Fox in simulations on Arwing flying.

Our tests showed that we passed with flying colors, and were already approved by Pepper himself. There was only one thing were each required now. In addition to our X-Team outfits, were also given heavier boots, strong jackets with different colored sleeves, mine was red to go with my black, Donny's was green to go with his blue, and Erin had pink to go with her purple… and each of us were honored with the Star-Fox badge.

"A guy like me could sure get used to this…" I said as I stared at the mirror admiring my reflection. Erin wished the girls at school, who thought she was weird, could see her now. "Dude… not bad…" Donny said.

The Star-Fox team smiled. "Welcome aboard guys…" Fox said as he shook each our hands. This was the start of something really big…

_**Proper Intro…**_

"_Mykan McClain… and his siblings, Erin, and Donny… Three expert gamers never have lost a challenge in their life… but one mysterious day they are caught in a strange warp-vortex and teleported to a star-system thousand of light-years from their own."_

"_Here… they are acquainted, and befriended by animal creatures, and feel obliged to join their ranks on a mission to stop the evil Emperor Andross from destroying the system with his army of robots."_

_**STAR-FOX RECRUITS**_

_**Starring**__**…**_

_**Fox McCloud: A Fox.**_

_**Krystal: A Vixen**_

_**Falco Lombardi: A Falcon**_

_**Peppy: A Hare**_

_**Slippy: A Toad**_

_**ROB: A Robot**_

_**Mykan, Erin, and Donny McClain: Humans.**_

_**General Pepper: A Dog.**_

_**And Andross: A Gorilla/Android.**_

"_The McClains are trapped with no way to return to Earth, possibly for the rest of their lives, and they are willing to accept their destiny if such is to be so… and as continue in their new mercenary lives they must keep in mind that no matter how skilled they me be, this is not a video game. Should they die… it will be Game Over!"_

_**STAR-FOX RECRUITS**_

_**Author's notes:**_

_**No… the fic's not over, it's just gotten warmed up.**_

_**This dull intro and getting to know everything's gone on long enough. It's time to get the real adventures started.**_


	7. Gravity Grip

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

In his lair on Venom, Andross had received reports that his machines were in position and phase-one of conquering of the Lylat-System was completed. _"Even as we speak master… I am prepared to lead a swat of soldiers to travel to the various destinations to enslave the populace."_

Andross nodded indicating he was pleased, _"You may proceed, Tobor…"_ he said, _"And remember… if the Star-Fox team should appear, you know what to do…"_

Tobor bowed, and left the lair to join his robot army that took off from Venom and scattered across the system to begin preparations. _"Now it… begins!"_ Andross grinned evilly.

…

The Great-Fox, the Arwings and all the other weapons, once fully upgraded and repaired, the Great-Fox was once again launched out into space to being patrolling the Lylat System. Donny, Erin and I were aboard, now well familiar with the controls and stuff… all that we needed now was to wait for the first move to be made.

Onboard the Great-Fox, you'd think nothing had changed at all as everything pretty well seemed the same as it was before, but it was not true. The hull of the ship was now stronger, and it's weapons a lot more powerful and faster to charge. The rockets were also re-modified and emergency thrusters were added to make dodging and evading enemy attacks a breeze…

For now, everyone was on the command-deck just enjoying the view and keeping watch over the systems. Slippy even cranked up the jukebox and kept in mind not to turn it up so high.

As Erin came up to the bridge, she nearly tripped over a discarded hammer on the floor. "Slippy… watch where you leave your tools!" she said.

"Sorry…" Slippy said, "I was up quite a lot last night helping with the final preparations before blast-off. I was even building this little translator for everyone." He held up special upgraded-wrist-computers for everyone. This meant that all languages would be translated, and subtitles provided for those that couldn't speak English.

"Well… I guess it's impressive. Nice work Slippy." Fox complimented.

Just then, General Pepper signed onto the image-communicator. _"General Pepper here. I've located the ideal are for your first mission objective Star-Fox team."_

"Well about time too…" Falco muttered.

Donny elbowed him in the gut, "Lighten-up, will you?"

"_Ahem…!"_ Pepper grunted to recapture everyone's attention; he showed us images of the planet Titania. The moment we all saw it, we gasped. "Hey, the ring around the planet is missing." Peppy said.

"_Exactly right, Peppy."_ replied Pepper, _"We've just received odd a signal of the gravity on the planet has suddenly become stronger, which would explain why the ring of dust is no longer around the planet. We also have determined that the gravity is slowly, yet effectively continuing to grow, but we can't why it's happening."_

"_It will be your mission, Star-Fox team; to investigate the situation, and do anything you can to reverse it. If the gravity on Titania continues to grow, I fear it will reach an inevitable point where the planet itself shall be crushed into dust under its own pressure."_

"_You have little time Star-Fox team. Pepper out."_

All of us were in deep thought, "How can a planet's gravity suddenly just start to maximize like that?" Erin wondered. "You'd have to add a powerful mineral into the planet's interior to make that even remotely possible."

It was beginning to look as though Andross had made his first move, but we would be able to be sure until we got a closer look. "ROB, how far away are we from Titania?" Fox asked.

"_All set with that check…"_ answered ROB. _"At our present speed, with a single warp boost, we should have a visual of Titania within the hour."_

With that settled, we all strapped on our seatbelts and THRUSTED forward into space. "Whew…we cure sure use ships like this back home." I said.

A while later, we could see Titania coming up ahead, it was agreed that Fox, Donny, Erin, and I would head to the planet's surface to instigate. "The Arwings are all set…" Peppy said, "Just remember, if the planet's gravity gets any stronger, you might not be able to life off of it again."

"Gee… thanks for the load of confidence." Erin said sarcastically, but nevertheless, were armed ourselves with blasters, and weapons, I of course just had to take a duplicate of Krystal's staff with me, and we headed for the Arwings and were off.

No sooner had we just gotten out of range from the great-Fox. "Uh-oh… looks like we've got company." I said as I pointed out to a swarm of robot ships heading our way.

"Dude… you think someone down there was expecting us." said Donny.

Fox decided, "We should take those guys out first. We can't have them going after the Great-Fox. Let's go guys!"

Erin cheered, "Yahoo! I'm so gonna enjoy this."

The battle was on. There were fifteen ships in total, different sizes and shapes with their own weapons. Lasers, plasma-balls, and missiles… "Maximum shields." Fox ordered, "Okay… let's party!" and he began to charge for a ship that was heading right at him from the front, he shot it down with ease.

Erin was surrounded by two ships, one in front, and one on her tail. "It's not nice to creep up on a girl." She hissed, and right at the last moment she pulled up fast casing the ships to accidentally shoot down each other. "Told you so…"

"Yo'… I could use some help here!" cried Donny who was being pursued by two other ships and their homing-missiles. "I'm coming bro…" I called to him, and I shot down the ships, and the missile while completely missing Donny's Arwing. "Am I bad…? Oh yes."

I could see Donny give me a thumb-up, and then he carried on to where five ships were coming for him. "Let's hear the element of surprise!" and he fired a nova-bomb. "ST-RIKE…!"

"Don't get too cocky now…" Fox said, "We still got to head down to the planet where the real danger lies."

"Party-Pooper..."

The rest of the ships began to retreat allowing us to safely make it through the planet's atmosphere and land on the surface. We managed to land the Arwings safely, but Peppy was right… we all felt a little heavy upon stepping outside.

"Whoa… I only fell like this when I have to get out of bed." Erin said as she felt her head. At least we are still able to move about normally. "Come on…" Fox said, "We got to find the source of the disturbance before the gravity gets any worse."

Agreeing to that, we all began to head towards the ancient ruins near our landing site. This was a whole new experience for me and the X-Team. The only thing closest to ancient ruins we ever were in were fun-houses and mazes at theme-parks on Earth.

It was pretty dark inside the temple; I used my staff to generate a little light for us. "Ouch… watch your foot, Fox." snapped Erin.

"Sorry…"

We continued on our way deeper into the ruins and before we knew it, we could see light at the end of the tunnel. "Hey… you guys hear something?" Donny. We all listened carefully and could hear the sounds of voices in the distance. Monotone voices, and robot sounds…

We passed by a small alcove, "Hey guys…" Erin whispered, "Come here…" We all stepped over and looked through the alcove which served as a window into a lower level of the ruins, whereas according from the data we observed on the Great-Fox, was near the main sector of the force-point of the Tatiana…

There were many robot soldiers down there, and they all seemed to be working around a huge powerful device that was placed in the center and just as Erin had predicted, was forcing minerals into the planet which was the source of what was disrupting the gravity.

"We've got to find some way to shut that thing down…" I said.

"Not just that one…" Fox pointed out. "There are a couple of other temples nearby, and they all have connections to the force points. I'm guessing they each have a generator like that."

What he was trying to put it as, was that if we tried to destroy just one the gravity would probably spin more out of control and destroy the planet. "This means… if they each have generators, then that means we have to find a way to destroy all of them at once." Donny said.

We decided to check out the other ruins, as I offered to stay behind and keep an eye on things in the current ruins to investigate further information, under the circumstances that if things were to get ugly I would get out immediately.

Fox checked his wrist computer, "The gravity's increasing all the time. I'd estimate that we only have an hour before it becomes too much to handle. So we make an agreement to get out of here ten minutes before then, no matter what."

With that, the others headed off, but no sooner had they gone outside did they run into an army of robots. Their alarms went off at once and they armed their laser guns. "Look out!" cried Donny, and they scattered about just in time. "Get behind the rocks!"

They whipped out their own blasters, and joined in the battle, leaping up form behind the rocks every chance they got to fire at the robots, and short them out. "Run for it…!" shouted Fox, and they all made a break for the other temples, only to be interrupted by more robots. "You guy's run on ahead." cried Erin "I'll cover you…!"

Donny and Fox agreed and made a break for the other two temples… while I on the other hand was still in the first temple, and I noticed the robots began to march out from their posts and head up the way. "Uh-oh…!" and I ducked behind the darkness where they wouldn't be able to see me as they marched by. Soon there wasn't a single robot left and the device down below was left un-guarded, allowing me to investigate more closely as I leapt into the chamber.

"What is this thing?" I kept asking. Whatever it was, it certainly was set up perfectly so that one false move would defiantly put the planet in greater danger. I activate my communicator. "Fox… come in! Have you checked out the other temples?"

Fox reported that he was right, "I've found another generator here."

"Copy and paste that on my end too." added Donny. "So what do we do now to shut down these things?"

The only clear option we had was to use the timed-detonators we bought. With all the robots busy outside, it was the best and only chance we had. Fox instructed us to set the timers for a five-minute delay. "Mark…!"

We each set out timers and set them off perfectly. "Okay… let's clear out." Fox said, "Erin may still need our help..."

Outside, Erin was indeed starting to lose her cool, as the robots just didn't know when to quit. For each one she shot down, two more popped up. "I could use some help here!" she cried.

"You called…" I called to her as I leapt up and over the rocks to her aid with my staff at the ready. Krystal and Fox had trained me well on what types of elements, and effects the staff could use, like ice! "Let's see how you like my deep freeze…!" I mocked as I froze the robots in the tracks.

This made it easier for me to jump in and fight them in hand to hand combat. Dodging their laser blasts and attacking them right back. Soon, Fox and Donny joined in with their own blasters, and the robots were defeated.

"And about time too…" Erin groaned as she found it harder to keep her balance. "Aren't those charges ready to blow yet?"

Fox checked his timer, "Ten more seconds." He told us. "Five, four, three, two, one…!"

The charges went off, all three at the same time destroying the gravity generators and stopping their pulsating-beams. The good news was the gravity was no longer increasing. The bad news was… "What's going on?" asked Donny, "Why isn't the gravity returning to normal?"

Neither of us had a clue, but suddenly we felt the ground quivering and shaking in usual rhythm. "Uh, guys…" Erin said nervously, "Anybody get the feeling that something nasty's about to happen?"

The quakes became louder, initiating that something was getting closer. In almost no time, there it was. A giant battle-droid in the shape of a large elephant-like creature was approaching us with its huge feet stomping on the ground. "A guys… I think the zoo is missing an animal." cried Donny.

The machine pounded the ground, and it actually trumpeted loudly at us as we identified its file…

_Name: Gravitphant_

_Weapon: Gravity-Beam._

I looked at Gravitphants's see-through hull that served as his body. "That energy…" I said, "Its anti-gravity."

That's when the machine raised its huge trunk and began sucking us towards it with such force. "Whoa… that's some force!" cried Erin.

"Quick!" added Fox. "Break for the Arwings!"

We were barely able to make it to our ships in time, yet we had to use a lot of power just to take off. "The gravity on the planet suddenly got stronger again…" I calculated. "It's going to pull us down if this keeps up."

That's when we all realized that it was obviously Gravitphant that was responsible. Being able to absorb the gravity of Titania, and use it as a weapon, leaving the planet's gravity completely unstable. Our only option now was to destroy that ugly thing and fast.

We tried our lasers, but the beams just bounced right off his hull. Then Gravitphant began to counter with his own attack, using its gravity beam from his trunk to try and suck up our ships, though it never succeeded, it did also absorb the many boulders lying around and fire them back out at us.

"Look out!" cried Fox, and we all began to swerve and roll our ships around, anything to dodge those boulders. What made things worse, was the gravity of the planet got even worse, and it was getting hard for our ships to maintain altitude.

"Come on guys… we gotta' hang tight!" I growled.

The suddenly, Donny had an idea. "You guys cover me, I may have a plan."

We all went along with him, and when Gravitphant began to suck up rocks again Donny fired a nova-bomb from his ship that got sucked into the hull and exploded, which caused the machine to fall over temporarily stunned, and it's armor was glowing red now. "Star shooting!" Donny shouted, and that's just what we did. Firing our lasers which finally did some damage…

Eventually, Gravitphant got back on its feet, and resumed its battle-mode. It also however began to use another form of attack. It leapt up high in the air, and stomped down on the ground sending a huge shockwave towards our ships.

"SWERVE!" screamed Erin. We all did our best to dodge those shockwaves; Donny even got hit a little. "Whoa! Easy, easy…!"

"You alright…?" Fox asked.

"Me? I laugh at danger!"

Gravitphant stopped pounding the ground, and resumed its normal battle function, and began to use its gravity-beam again. "Fire in the hole…" Erin called as she launched her nova-bomb which caused it to topple over again.

"Get it…!" Fox shouted, and we all fired our lasers at it again. This time, the machine began to spark. Fox and I did the only best thing and both fired our nova-bombs at it. "Get back!" I called. "That thing's going to blow!"

We all hung U-turns and speeded away just as the explosions got larger. Then in one huge KAPOW, Gravitphnat was completely destroyed, which released all of its anti-gravity back into the planet. The gravity was restored to normal levels… and way up in orbit, the crew on the Great-Fox watched as the ring of dust around Titania began to reform.

"They did it! They did it!" cried Slippy.

"Nice going Fox." Peppy said into the radio. "You okay…?"

"_We're all present and accounted for, old-timer."_ Fox answered, _"Mission completed. We're coming back."_

Krystal smiled warmly. "I knew they could do it."

"Yeah… well don't get too excited." Falco said rudely. "This is only the first step."

_**Meanwhile**_…

You can bet your boots that when Andross had heard about his forces on Titania being demolished, he was angry. _"I cannot tolerate this incompetence…!"_ he growled at his machines, _"Your mediocrity exceeds even my lowest expectations of you all!"_

He clenched his fists up tightly. _"Star-Fox shall pay for this! I will win the war!"_

_**Author's notes**_

_**I guess you can already tell that the chps are now much bigger than before. So I may not be able to update as fast anymore, but I'm not giving up…**_


	8. A Rocky Road

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Another day on patrol meant another day to explore and discover the strange sights of the Lylat system. Our mission today was to explore Meteo, the field of Asteroids near Corneria that served as protection… however, something wasn't quite right.

We had received word from General Pepper that many of the asteroids were in fact merging together to form a giant meteor that was slowly making its way towards Corneria. This meteor was at least half Corneria's size meaning that if it successfully made it through and crashed, Corneria would blow up like a bomb. It was our mission to reach the meteor, find out what was causing it to grow so large, and stop it at all costs.

"We're approaching the asteroid field now Fox." Peppy said. Fox nodded, and then signaled his crew to man their stations. He, I and my siblings of course were going, and so were Falco and Krsytal. It was necessary that for us to guard the great Fox as well as clear a path for it that would lead to the giant asteroid, in case we weren't able to stop it ourselves.

Krsytal was just glad to be going along for the ride. She hadn't been on an Arwing flight ever since I and my siblings first came. That and, she liked it when she got to go on missions with Fox… but now was no time to be soft and blushing.

"We're ready Slippy." Fox signaled.

Slippy nodded, "Launching all Arwings…!" he said as he flipped the switch and we were off. "Okay, everyone stay in formation." Fox said. "Follow me and don't toddle off."

"Copy that…" I said.

"We're all with you Fox." added Krystal.

"Whatever." said Falco.

Fox flew his ship to the head of the team, and we all followed him into the field of asteroids. Keeping up with him we swerved and flew over, under and in-between. "Keep it tight people!" Fox said while trying to stay focused.

Suddenly, Erin zigged where she should've zagged, and her wing scraped against a rock. "Ah…!" she cried.

I looked up, "Erin, you okay…?" completely taking my eyes off where I was going. "Mykan, look out!" cried Donny.

I looked up just in time before my ship smacked face-first into a red asteroid, and I had just hit the lasers in time blowing it our of my path. "That was easy enough." I said cockily.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Andross had been watching from his lair. _"Hmm… very clever."_ he hissed. Then he clicked on the computer, _"Tobor… you have company. It appears our enemies are aware of our plot."_

"_Yes, my lord…" _answered Tobor, _"Fear not! For if they should dare get anywhere near us… their fates shall be sealed, literally…"_

Andross smiled sinisterly as he shut down the transmission, and then he clicked a switch which opened a panel in the floor and revealed what appeared to be a power generator, which was very low in capacity; less than fiver-percent to be exact. Andross didn't seem to mind that it was so low, _"Soon… very soon." _he muttered.

_**Meanwhile**_…

We were all still evading our way through the asteroid, and Donny shook his head vigorously. "This place is making me dizzy." he groaned.

"Whatever else you got, just keep it to yourself." Falco said, and we all guessed at what he was hinting. Suddenly Krystal cried out, "Look…"

There it was, up ahead. "Whoa… check out the size of that thing!" cried Falco.

"Dude… is that an Asteroid or a moon?" Donny asked rhetorically.

We kept our ships in free float and did as many close-up calculations as we could. The Asteroid's exterior was completely comprised of iron. This meant that we wouldn't be able to destroy it simply by shooting at it.

"Hey, Fox… why don't we look around the other side?" I suggested.

Fox was up for that, and so were the others, although Falco hesitated slightly. "If you insist…" he sighed. "Well look at that thing…!" I snapped at him. "Where's your sense of exploration?"

"All wrapped in one basket, on how to stop it."

Nevertheless, we all flew around to the other side, staying out of the way of the tail where we were liable to be hit debris. "It's just as solid over here too…" said Krystal.

Now that we were here, the question was what to do to stop the asteroid. We couldn't shoot it down. "Well maybe we can try nudging it out of its trajectory with our ships." Erin suggested.

We recalculated the volume and the speed of the Asteroid, "The Asteroid's far too big and going to fast." Krsytal said, "It would mean certain suicide to try that."

Donny suggested we look around the face again, and so we maneuvered our ships once again. "Well I'm fresh out of ideas." Fox said. "I've never faced anything this big in my life."

We all just stayed where we were in free float, but then suddenly it looked as though the Asteroid was getting closer and faster towards us. "Hey! It's moving in…!" cried Falco.

"No, it isn't…" I said, and I tired pulling on the controls along with all the others, "We're moving in. It's pulling us!"

"Dude, I can't break away…!" cried Donny.

"Neither can I." added Erin.

Down, down, our ships went, it looked as though we were going to collide, "Everybody hang on!" cried Fox, but surprisingly a secret doorway opened on the asteroid's surface and our ships were pulled in by gravity-beam.

Down, down, through a tunnel with lights, until eventually we came into a hanger-bay and our ships touched down all on their own, and before we knew it, an army of robots marched out with their guns poised at us. We all saw no choice but to raise our hands over our heads and go with them.

…

Before we knew it we were all stripped of our weapons, and thrown into prison-cells in what was now revealed to be a super atomic-base within the core of the asteroid. The very source of what started this whole mess.

"Swell!" snorted Falco, "What next…?" He got his answer when the doors on the either side of the room opened and in marched a robot army, and among them was a larger robot, who was wielding a beam-sword. _"So… the famous Star-Fox team… At last we meet. Though unexpectedly at that…"_

"Who are you?" Fox asked.

"_I… am Tobor. Lead General of the Robot-Army."_ he answered, _"I live to serve under the order of Emperor Andross of Venom, to conquer the Lylat System, and to replace all upright living beings with artificial creations."_

Falco looked confused, "Yeah… right…" he snorted.

Tobor's head gave a slight twitch. _"You dare to mock at me?"_

Falco didn't answer this time, but Fox did say, "You can't keep us here like this. We'll find a way out."

Tobor chuckled, _"Heh, heh, heh… you really fry my circuits. You'll never break out of here…" _then he plucked a bolt from the floor and pitched it at the bars. ZAP! The bolt was vaporized indicating there was an invisible molecular vaporizing field surrounding the bars. If we tried to even touch them we'd be turned to ash.

"I think we get the idea…" Donny groaned.

Tobor nodded, _"As much as I would enjoy sitting here and watching you suffer, I really must be going. The asteroid is still on its way to Corneria. Soon it will crash, and kill all life-forms on the planet._ _Lord Andross will be pleased."_

He ordered his men to follow him out of the dungeon, while two guards would remain outside the door. Once they were gone, "Well… what do we do now?" Erin asked.

We couldn't even try to touch the bars with the vaporizing field around it, and we had no weapons to try and help us. Worse than that, our cells were completely empty, with not even a bed to lie on.

There had to be a way to short out the controls to the vaporizing field, and opened the bars. Donny, Erin and I thought it over hard. We had been locked in cells many times before in video-games, and yet we always managed to find a way out somehow…

That's when I gazed over at Krystal in her cell, and the fur on her head was moving in a peculiar motion. "Krystal…" I called to her. "Is it breezy in there…?"

Krystal looked confused, "Now that you mention it, it does feel a little drafty. Why do you ask?"

I explained that if there was a draft in her cell, then it obviously meant there was a small opening somewhere in one of the tiles. Krystal felt around, and then she could feel a slight breeze coming from one of the tiles in the wall.

She pushed against it with her hand, and it was indeed loose. "Think I can get it…!" she groaned as she pushed and pounded on the tile trying to get at it. "Some time this year would be nice…" Falco called to her.

"Falco!" snapped Fox. "I don't see you trying to lend a hand."

Falco crossed his arms.

Krystal finally managed to get the tile off the wall, and inside there were indeed wires and pipe lines. The wires weren't high-voltage so at least Krsytal would be able to pull on them, but the only question was, "Which one should I try…?"

There were four different wires, each a different color, "Red, Blue, Green, or Yellow…?"

"I say the yellow one…" Fox said.

"You're as color blind as you are dense." Falco said, "The blue one…"

Krsytal actually thought of trying the green one, so she pulled it first, but nothing happened at all. She the reattached it, and tried the red one. Still nothing happened…! She then tried to pull out all the wires at once, but even that did nothing.

"Hey… I think I've seen something like this before." Donny said. He referred to a time when he, Erin and I played a game called Spy-Fortress, and we got locked in a dungeon exactly like the one we were in now. There was a secret panel in the wall that leads to four colored wires, "You have to pull them in a certain order…"

"Well… which order should I try?" Krsytal asked.

"I don't know… just pick one."

Krsytal tried one code. "Red, blue, yellow, green." Nothing happened.

"Red, yellow, green, blue…" Nothing…

"Red, green, blue, yellow…" Not a thing…

Falco was growing impatient again, but I informed him that with four different wires, finding the right code was one in twenty-eight. Falco began to wonder "How do we even know we haven't already passed the right code yet?"

"Don't worry. When we hit the right code, we'll know…" I said.

We continued to wait as Krystal tried more codes, and then finally she decided to try the colors in alphabetical order by name. "Blue, green, red, and yellow." This time we heard a low pitched humming sound and gazed at the bars that were no longer glowing, and the cells opened wide. "It worked." cried Krystal.

"Hey, get thinking guys." Fox said, but the celebration was cut short when the alarm sounded and a computerized-voice called out, _"Danger! Prison-cell breech."_

"_Danger…! Prison-cell breech."_

We all dashed out of our cells knowing the robots would be after us now, but when the guards rushed in, Falco and I tackled them to the ground, shorted them out, and stole their blasters.

"Let's get out of here!" Falco said, and we all dashed out of the dungeon and through the corridors, blasting all the robots that charged at us. Eventually we found the chamber where our weapons were being held, and re-armed ourselves.

"All right… now lets find a way to shut this place down." said Fox.

We all agreed, and wasn't it convenient that the corridors were marked with guide-signs that told us where to go in case we got lost. We followed the sign that read, _"Main-Reactor."_

Dashing across the corridors, we made it to exactly where we needed to be; a room with a large reactor core at the very heart of the asteroid. Unfortunately, there was a whole army of robots waiting for us as well, and in no time a fierce battle began. "Scatter!" cried Fox.

We all dashed out of the way of the ray-guns that fired upon us, and began to fight back. Blasting the robots, and shorting out their systems. "Why can't they ever do this the easy way?" Falco complained as he dodged a blast, and fired back at the robot.

Erin and Donny were doing great too, and as Donny lay on the floor, "Hey, Erin… Wheel-of-Fortune… Give me a spin!"

Erin did just that and spun Donny around on the floor. His smooth jacket let him spin round and around like a wheel and he fired his blaster endlessly until he stopped, not a single shot missed its target. "I guess their not game show fans…" Erin joked.

"And I though everybody had a good run."

While Fox was still dealing with more of the robots, he could see Krsytal and I battling our other robots with our staffs, and we even shot a wink at each other. Fox felt slightly jealous, but knew it would be silly to even think that… _"Mykan and Krsytal…? No way…"_

_**Meanwhile **__**…**_

Peppy and Slippy had been out of contact with the Arwings for a while now. "You don't think maybe they were--?" Slippy gulped hard, but Peppy knew for sure that wasn't the case. "If they had been shot down, we'd be able to see bits and pieces of the Arwings flying past us by now."

ROB scanned the radar again, _"Database confirms location of the Arwings, and crew, presently unknown."_ he reported.

They flew through the asteroid field a little further and could see the giant asteroid just up ahead and there was still no sign of the Arwings anywhere.

"Let's try and get in closer…" Peppy said, "They've got to be around here somewhere."

…

The battle was still going on, and it was as if the robots just wouldn't stop coming at us. "That's it… now I'm mad!" I said. "TAKE THIS…!"

"Mykan, what are you doing…?" Krsytal wondered. She soon got her answer as she saw me hold my staff over my head and spin it round and around, faster, and faster like a helicopter…

Then, I activate the fire element, and the staff began to wave flames, _**(Like Red Dragon thunderzord's finishing move)**_

I began to move towards the robots and then STRIKE them hard with my burning staff, causing them to spark, flare up and explode. Some of them even fell off the walkway and down below, and one of them crashed right into the reactor, badly damaging it and cause it to malfunction. "Uh-oh…!"

At once the whole base began quaking, and the reactor began to spark. Finally the walls began to cave in around us. "Everybody out!" shouted Fox, and we all dashed out of the room and down the corridors towards the hanger-bay where the Arwings were.

The problem was some of the robots that were left were chasing us, and we barely made it into the bay and locked the emergency door behind them. "That takes care of them…" Donny said, "But how the heck do we get out of here?" he pointed out that the bay doors were still closed.

"Only one way…" I said as I hopped into my ship and started her up. "We're going to have to blast our way out of here."

As I began to fire my lasers at the doors, I could see the others still standing outside. "Well, don't just stand there! Get in your ships!"

They finally realized, and climbed into their ships. Fox even helped me with the door, but the robots managed open up the emergency doors first and began to march into the hanger-bay.

"Quick… hold them off." cried Erin, and she and Falco began to blast the robots away. Allowing Fox and me to continue with the hatch-doors…

By this point, the reactor was malfunctioning so badly that the base was starting to blow up form the inside. "Okay, guys! Anytime now!" cried Falco.

Finally the doors were destroyed. "That's it! Let's move!" I cried, and I started my ship, flying through the tunnel with everyone else behind me, finally we could see outer-space, and the asteroid field. "We're out!" cried Krystal.

"No, not yet we aren't." Donny pointed out that we were still to near the asteroid itself. "Hey… look up ahead." said Falco. "It's the Great-Fox."

The ship was flying closer and closer to our position; Fox quickly activated his transmitter, "Great-Fox from Fox McCloud! Calling Great Fox, from Fox McCloud…"

Peppy and Slippy heard the radio. "Peppy look…! It's Fox and the gang." Slippy cried with joy.

Peppy spoke into the radio, "Come in Fox! We'll be right over in a moment."

"No, Peppy…!" Fox practically shouted. "Get out of here! Turn the ship around and keep away from the asteroid! It's going up any second."

"But, Fox… are you guys okay?"

"Don't ask questions, Peppy! Just do as I say… AND BEAT IT!"

The Great-Fox hung a U-turn and fired its super-thrusters speeding away from the asteroid with the rest of us following it at full speed. That's when the asteroid began to flare up with explosions that grew bigger, and bigger…

And then…

_**KAPOW…!**_

A massive force blew the asteroid into dust, nothing was left of it. We all smiled with pride. "All ships check in!" Fox called.

"I'm with you, Fox." said Falco.

"So am I…" added Krystal.

"X-Team, brining up the rear…" I called.

"Copy that…" Erin responded.

"I'm with you, bro…" added Donny.

All of us, safe and sound, headed back to the Great-Fox for a well deserved rest. Another mission successfully completed…

_**Meanwhile**_…

"_I'm surrounded by fools!"_ Andross growled.

"_Never fear, master…"_ Tobor called over his transmission. _"Someday we shall make Fox and his companions pay!"_

"_Silence…!"_ Andross shouted, _"If this is anyone's fault, it is yours, Tobor. You should have taken them out while you had the chance, but you didn't!"_

Tobor knew he was in big trouble, but was thankful that he was thousand of miles away from Venom.

_**Meanwhile**_…

We all sat down to relax in the game room, and helped ourselves to some refreshments. "Thanks you guys…" Fox said to me and my team.

"For what…?" I asked.

"For helping us get out of the cells." answered Krystal, "That was very clever thinking."

We just tried to brush them of saying that it was nothing. "For us… that was less than a piece of cake." Donny said.

"Did someone say cake…?" Slippy said, as he walked in with a cake fresh-from the oven. "Oh, uh… gee… it looks good Slippy, but I think those chocolate-chips are moving." Erin said.

"Oh, these aren't Chocolate-chips." Slippy pointed which led to realize they were really… "Ugh…!" cried Donny.

"Ew, gross…" added Erin.

Krsytal and Fox laughed softly at our expressions. "I guess a toad by any nature is still a toad." I said as I held my stomach feeling grossed out.

Still, another mission complete, the Lylat system was out of danger. At least for now…


	9. Water worries

**CHAPTER NINE**

A single Arwing, with me inside, was soaring over the planet Sauria, better known as the dinosaur planet. Earlier we had received a report of massive fires breaking out on the lands, and I was just up and leaving…

"That's right Fox…" I said into my communicator, "When I got to the scene of the fire, the dinosaurs already managed to get it under control. So it seemed best to leave it to them."

"_Well, I guess that's all right."_ Fox said over the transmission, _"Not too many casualties I hope…"_

I told Fox that he had nothing to worry about. The fires were out now, and all was safe once again. _"Well you may as well head back. Krystal and I were thinking of having a look around the planet ourselves and warn them about Andross… so you get to watch the Great-Fox while I'm gone."_

I smiled, "Gee… thanks a load Fox. Mykan, out…" I sat there minding my own business as I flew my ship ready to blast off into space… when suddenly I got hit, "What the--"

I looked out side, and switched on my rearview, three strange crafts were behind me and firing at me, I couldn't see who was in them, but I could hear them speaking over the radio, _"Ukkodkaed ucc vc0ohj... jxeek tend kxo kuhwok. Hofouk, jxeek tend kxo kuhwok."_

This in Saurian meant, _**"Attention all flyers... shoot down the target. Repeat, shoot down the target…"**_

I pulled on the steering-controls and began to try and evade the ships, but they just kept staying on my tail. The leader growled, _"Uvkoh xam…! Uvkoh xam…!"_

"_**After him…! After him…!"**_

I turned on my communicator, "Great-Fox from Mykan McClain! I'm under attack from three unidentified crafts, and taking evasive action."

Eventually, one of the ships got my in clear view and shot at my thrusters causing the Arwing to crash. "I've been hit!" I cried.

"_Nose up, Mykan…! Get your nose up…!"_ Fox shouted over the radio.

The ground was coming in fast, and if I didn't get the nose up, my ship would explode upon impact. I pulled and yanked on the controls, and managed to level off just in time as I slammed into the ground, skidded in the sand… and was thrown forward into the controls hard…

I was still in one piece, but there was no way the Arwing would fly. Worse than that, I was passed out in the cockpit, as the three fighters hovered over head. Pleased that they had shot me down, and zoomed away, out of sight.

_**Meanwhile**_…

On the great Fox… everyone had lost complete contact with me in the Arwing. "Oh, Fox how terrible, what could've happened?" cried Krystal.

Fox was still trying to contact me, "Arwing from Great-Fox…! Arwing from Great-Fox…! Mykan… can you hear me?"

The radio gave no response. "Nothing…"

_**Meanwhile**_…

I was coming out of my concussion. "Ah-ow…!" I groaned softly. There was a large gash on my forehead. I felt really weary as I reached for my communicator. "Ugh…! Great-Fox… from Mykan McClain! Great-Fox… from Mykan McClain, someone answer me!" and then I realized, "Ah, the communicator's smashed. Darn-it…!"

I then decided to take a look outside and see where I had crashed. I opened the cockpit and gazed at the miles of dessert-sand all around me, as far as the eye could see. "Not a sign of anything… familiar." I groaned. "Five-thousand miles from the ship… the Arwing won't fly… and my radio's dead."

I winced in the pain that was my head, "Ow…! Whoa… I don't feel so good" I groaned. "I think I'm going to-- I think…I'm… going to…" I couldn't finish as I felt myself collapse out-cold, stretched-out over the side of my damaged Arwing.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Erin entered the bridge. "I've just spoken to Peppy. What's happened, Fox?"

"It's real serious, Erin." Fox answered, "Mykan was on his way back from the Saurian fire when he surrounded by some unidentified crafts. It looks as though he's been shot down."

"But the radio… what about the radio…?"

"Oh, Erin…" Krystal sobbed as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue, "The radio's gone dead… it won't answer."

Slippy had been plotting my position, "He can't have gotten very far from his last point of contact."

"Well then what are we waiting for…" Falco said, "Let's get a move on before something else goes wrong."

Peppy agreed, and then he and ROB began to prepare the Arwings for launch as the Great-Fox was locked into orbit around Sauria. The ships were launched in no time at all. "Do you think Mykan's okay down there…?" Donny wondered. "It must be pretty hot down there in that desert."

"Yeah… and not a single soul within miles..." Fox said sounding concerned.

_**Meanwhile**_…

I was still passed out…

I was so incredibly out of it, that you couldn't that I didn't see or hear a trio of dinosaurs crossing through the desert, and not just any dinosaurs…

"Gosh, it's hot out here…" cried Prince Tricky, whom had grown quite a lot since Fox last saw him. "How much farther do we have to go dad?"

King Earth-walker told his son to be strong, "It will be at least another day or two before we arrive at our destination."

His wife, the Queen Earth-Walker admitted that she too was feeling tired, "But we are the rulers of the Earth-Walker tribe Tricky. We must be strong, and then nothing will seem impossible for us."

Tricky knew his mother was right deep down, but he did wish they could just stop and rest a moment. As the Earth-Walkers continued along their way, "Hey, What's that?" Tricky said as he peeked over at a sand-dun nearby.

His parents saw it too, "Oh, my!" cried the Queen, "It looks like a space-craft that crashed."

They all decided to get in closer, and that's when they realized that the craft was actually an Arwing. "Why… it's Star-Fox." the King said. "The famous Star-Fox…"

Tricky's insides were going wild with joy, but then suddenly he and his folks all saw me stretch out on the side. "Hey… who's that?" he wondered as he had never seen a human before. "Gee… he looks like he's in a bad way."

They all approached me just as I came out from my concussion, and when I saw three large dinosaurs moving close to me, a-part of me would've freaked-out… but I recognized these creatures as the ones from Fox's adventure slides. The King and Queen Earth-Walker, and their son Prince Tricky…

My head so much I could barely move about, "Ooh… my head!"

"Hey, you're hurt…" Tricky said.

"I'll survive…" I said weakly.

The King then requested that his wife and Tricky prepare some of the herbs from their travel supplies to help me. "So… you are a member of Star-Fox?" the King asked.

"Yeah…" I said. "Fox has told me all about you Earth-Walkers."

The Queen asked me how I ended up here in the desert, and I told them about the three fighters that shot me down, but the Earth-Walkers all disbelieved me. "That's highly impossible." The King stated, "No dinosaur on Sauria can even fit into such a craft."

I realized that was true, but I knew for a fact that what happened to me wasn't my imagination. The medicinal herbs they gave me helped with the pain in my head, and soon, the sky was filled with more Arwings.

It was Fox and that gang, coming to help me. "Look… there's Mykan's Arwing." Krystal said.

"And if my eyes don't deceive me… those creatures near him must be the royal Earth-Walkers." Donny said.

The Arwings set down just a little ways away from the Earth-Walkers, and no sooner had they disembarked did Tricky come running towards, "Fooooooooooooox….!"

Fox waved his hands, "Tricky! No, no, no…!"

SPLAT!

"Fox, it's you! I can't believe you're here."

Poor Fox, as glad as he was to see his old friend, "Tricky… you're hurting me… Ouch…!"

Krystal giggled softly, and so did Erin and Donny.

"Some things never change with you McCloud." Falco teased.

Apart from that, Fox radioed Slippy and told him he could come down and repair my Arwing, and after sundown, when it got much cooler "All finished, Mykan…" Slippy said. "I also repaired your communicator. It's working fine now…"

I smiled at Slippy, and Slippy then decided to head back up to the Great-Fox, leaving the rest of the gang to tend to my injuries as well as set-up camp for the night and head back to the ship tomorrow.

"Gee, that apple-pie you brought down was yummy, Erin." I said. "Uh… is there any left?"

My sister giggled, "No, Mykan… you scuffed a lot. Besides, three helpings are quite enough. You're supposed to be an invalid, remember?"

I felt slightly embarrassed, but I was grateful to everyone for helping me recover. "Now that we're all here, it'll make things safer if those fighters decide to attack again tomorrow morning."

"Do you really think they will attack again?" Krystal asked.

"I don't rightly what to think, Krystal. The whole thing's a complete mystery to me."

Still, the incident was over for now, and that led us all to question as to why the Earth-Walkers were out in the desert-are of the planet. The King explained that they were on an expedition to locate a new oasis that was reported to have been formed.

Only recently had odd things happened to the supplies of water in Thorntail-Hollow, and throughout the rest of the planet. The springs of water were beginning to dry up, and water was becoming quite difficult to locate and savor. "If our mission is successful, there will more than enough water supplies and plenty of room to build new colonies should our planet ever become overcrowded."

"The only thing is… there have been rumors about this desert." said the Queen. "Those who have gone searching for the oasis either never made it, or were never heard from again."

We all thought that that was indeed odd. One thing for sure though, we knew it couldn't have been the work of Andross. Sauria was much too far away from Venom, and all its inhabitance was all united now, and would do anything to protect their world.

Andross wouldn't dare show himself on the planet again…!

"Well… I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to turn in." Donny said.

"I'll say goodnight too…" added Erin, "even a pretty fighter like me needs her beauty sleep."

Falco snorted rudely, "Beauty-Sleep? You'd have to sleep for like a month."

The rest of us shot him a straight look, and Erin grumbled, "Falco, you are such a typical guy!"

Falco ignored her and adjourned to his tent, before long we all were tucked away in our sleeping-bags and the Earth-Walkers were cuddled together as they slept. Only Fox was still outside as he looked up into space…

He was thinking deeply about his exploration mission with Krystal tomorrow. They're mission together in awhile, but he was starting to wonder if it was really what he wanted… to just explore more of the planet with her?

"Fox…?" Krystal called softly. Fox nearly winced in surprise. "Krystal…? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Krystal shook her head as she too was too excited to sleep, so she moved towards him and sat down on the rock next to him. Their eyes met, and then they turned quickly away from each other feeling slightly shy.

Then Krystal broke the silence by asking Fox, "What do think of for the future…?"

She explained in clearer detail that eventually Andross would be defeated again, _"We hope…"_ That made her wonder, what "Don't you have anything planned? I mean for a life outside of the force, if ever you shouldn't be needed for a while…?"

Fox wasn't really sure how to answer that. He was strictly a guy of action, and he loved all the battles and stuff. "Well… I do have one idea…" He said nervously, "But… well… ah, it's not important."

Krystal wasn't convinced, and she wanted to know. Fox began to feel himself losing his nerve, and so he gave in, "I… well… I've sometimes had a dream of settling down." he said. "You know… get a place, and… find that special someone."

Krystal wasn't so sure if Fox was talking about anyone _specific,_ but she took as a sign that at least Fox had hopes and dreams as well. "Sometimes I dream of that too…" she said, "I haven't been able to really take things too easily since my planet was destroyed."

Her head drooped a little, but then Fox placed his hand over hers, "Easy, Krystal… I don't know how it feels to lose your whole world, but I have had a taste of it." he referred to the death of his father sometimes slowed him up too, but he learned that he had to be strong because that's what his dad would've wanted. No matter how many enemies he would defeat, Fox knew that it wouldn't bring his father back to him…

"My dad wanted me to get this far, and I know he would've wanted me to go further still. Just like your people would have, including your parents… Krystal, except for Erin, you're the strongest creature I know."

Krystal smiled, and then she and Fox were suddenly gazing into each others eyes, "What are you waiting for Fox…" Tricky called, "Plant one on her already…"

The King and Queen Earth-Walker sniggered softly, and that's when Fox began to realize, "What… you… I… uh…I wasn't…?!?"

Krystal giggled.

"Children shouldn't be up so late anyways!" Fox snapped.

"Awe, Come on Fox…! Quit treating me like a kid already!"

"Well then stop acting like one!"

Donny, Erin and I however were annoyed out of our skulls, and pressing our pillows against our heads. "Ow! My head…" I groaned. Eventually everyone went back to sleep, though Fox still felt a little nervous about him and Krystal…

…_especially seeing as how she was the special one he was talking about._

Finally, all was quiet…!

_**The next morning**_…

Most of us headed back to the Great-Fox leaving Fox and Krystal on the planet to continue the journey with the Earth-Walkers as part of their exploration, to see the new oasis…

I was feeling perfectly fine to resume my duties, and my head didn't hurt as much anymore. Yet Peppy wouldn't stop treating me like an invalid, "You sure you don't want another helping of food Mykan?"

I hiccupped, and stroked my stomach, "Peppy… how do I put this? If I eat another crumb, this ship will have serious weight problems."

The others sniggered, "Say, Mykan… do you have any idea who those fighters were?" Slippy asked.

"Not a clue…" I answered, "All I know is, they can speak Saurian. I just hope Fox and Krystal don't run into them as well."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Keeping their Arwings where they were, and shielded so nothing would happen to them, Fox and Krystal set out with the Earth-Walkers. Fox rode on the King, and Krystal rode on the Queen.

The sun beamed down on all of them, luckily Krystal had her staff with her and gave a little of the ice-element to cool things down. "Ahh… that's much better." said Tricky. "I wish I could make ice."

"Don't worry, Tricky…" said his father, "We'll soon be at the oasis, and we can all enjoy a good long rest."

"Say, look out there." said Fox as he pointed over the horizon. Everyone could see several palm trees pointing up at the sky. "It must be the oasis." cried Queen Earth-Walker. "We have found it at last!"

Tricky licked his lips, "I'm going to drink that oasis dry."

"Hey! Save some for us, will you?" Fox said jokingly.

The Earth-Walkers practically dashed over the hills towards the oasis looking forward to a good long drink… but when they finally reached it, were they ever surprised. "Am… am I seeing things?" asked Fox.

"I can't believe it…!" added Krystal. There was no water. Not even a single drop. "But… this is impossible!" growled the King.

Fox began to wonder if he had gone the right way, and the King explained that it was true. They had gone the right way, but how the water-hole that was only just formed, could be completely dried up was a great mystery.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Tricky complained. Everyone was greatly disappointed. Still, Fox and Krystal decided to check the water-hole area for themselves. They weren't convinced that all the water could've dried up just like that.

Suddenly Krystal felt the ground she was walking on feel different. "Hmm…?" she moved down a bit and felt the rocks. The ones she was standing on indeed felt softer than the ones next to her. "Krystal… what is it?" Fox asked as he walked over to her.

Krystal asked him to feel the rocks, and he was surprised to feel that they were indeed softer. "Maybe the water fell through the softness of the ground and went back into the planet." Fox suggested, but Krystal wasn't so sure of that. Then suddenly her foot went down into the ground as if she had hit a switch, "Ah, my foot!"

The water-hole began to quiver around them, and they could suddenly feel themselves being lowered into the ground on an elevator-platform. "Fox…! Krystal...!" cried Tricky as he and his parents saw what was happening, but there was nothing they could do as Fox and Krystal were already out of sight, gone deep into the ground, and the Earth-Walkers were all far too big to fit in the shaft.

"I got a bad feeling about this…" replied Tricky.

…

Fox and Krystal were still going down, down, into was had to be some underground lair. Fox quickly contacted the Great-Fox, "Peppy, can you hear me?"

"_Loud and clear, Fox."_ Peppy said.

Fox explained to him what was happening, and that he and Krystal were going to explore as much as they could. _"All right Fox. If we don't hear from you again in ten minutes, I'll send the Arwing team down. Peppy out."_

Suddenly, the lift stopped and Fox and Krystal's theories were confirmed. They were indeed in some secret lair. "But who inhabits it? What sort of base is this…?"

They were about to be given their answers when suddenly two strange creatures, completely coated in armor from head to toe, and poised ray-guns at them. Fox and Krystal quickly threw up their hands in the air.

They aren't able to determine if they were robots, dinosaurs, or some other type of life-form, but they looked as though they meant business. One of the guards sneered at the intruders, _"0ei kne... eloh xoho den!"_

Fox had to keep his hands up, so he couldn't get to his translator. "Krystal… what did he say?"

"He said… _"You two... over here now!"_

Obviously the guards wanted Fox and Krystal to go with them, and of course they were being held by gun-point and forced to drop all weapons and communication-devices.

_**Meanwhile**_…

The ten minutes had passed and Fox hadn't reported-in. "What do you suppose has happened down there?" Slippy wondered.

"If there's one thing I know, don't leave Fox on his own mission." Falco said, "He always seems to get himself lost or into trouble."

We all shot him a look, "Do you think maybe we should go down there and have a look?" asked Erin. Even though Peppy said he would launch the fleet, he decided, "Let's give it a little bit longer, but I would like to know just where they are and what they're up to."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Fox and Krystal were traveling with the two guards in a monorail-car that traveled throughout the entire base. They saw water coming in from many different pipes, and they began to realize…

"This must be where they get their fuel and power." Krystal said. "They tap into Sauria's water supplies and transfer it all down here to make use of it."

"No kidding…" Fox said, "Take a look at that guy down there…" he said as he pointed towards a creature that seemed to be tanking up three jet-fighters. "Hey! They must be the craft that Mykan told us about, the ones that shot him down the other day."

Krystal and Fox were amazed to realize how much power these creatures harvested from so much water. "I'd hate to think of what would happen if they reached planet Aquis." Krystal whispered.

Eventually, after a long train-ride, the guards brought their hostages to their leader and band of many other creatures in a large control-room. Fox and Krystal still had no idea who they were… but Krystal translated to Fox everything that was said.

The leader asked one of the Guards, _"Adkhitohj? Nxoho tat 0ei vadt kxom?" __**(Intruders… where did you find them?)**_

The guard answered, _"Kxo0 noho veidt uk kxo muad wuko. Kxo0 cesukot eik joshok odkhudso." __**(They were found at the main gate. They located out secret entrance.)**_

The leader's eyes narrowed from within his helmet. He then turned to one of his other servants. _"Av kxaj aj khio... uho kxoho ud0meho eik kxoho?" __**(If this is true… are there anymore out there?)**_

The servant nodded and said, _"0oj... hutuh jxenj kxhoo ekxoh cavo-vehmj eikjato ed kxo eujaj." __**(Yes... radar shows three other life-forms outside on the oasis.)**_

The monitors were flipped on, and everyone could see, "It's the royal Earth-Walkers." Fox whispered.

"Yes… but what are they going to do now?" Krystal wondered.

They soon got their answer when the leader ordered his men, _"Fhofuho kxo tovodjo-majjacoj. No mijk dek cok kxejo shoukihoj cok ed nxuk kxo0 xulo jood!" __**(Prepare the defense-missiles. We must not let those creatures let on what they have seen!)**_

Fox and Krystal gazed at each other in shock as they saw the monitors showing images of powerful hydrogen-bombs being loaded onto ramps ready for loading. They had to warn the Earth-Walkers that they were going to be attacked. "Okay… now I've got an idea…" Fox whispered in Krystal's ear.

As the creatures took their orders and aimed the missiles carefully so that the Earth-Walkers would get struck directly… Fox and Krystal suddenly lunged at the guard that was still holding them at gunpoint. This allowed them to grab their weapons and start blasting…

BAM! The other Guard was hit, and went down.

Krystal then used her staff's fire attack and shot the consoles. The warning buzzer sounded as the creature manning-post gasped. _"Kxo j0jkomj uho mucvidkaedadw!" __**(The systems are malfunctioning!)**_

The missiles were launched before the order was given.

…

POW! Out through a secret-hole in a sand-dune near the oasis. "Mom! Dad, look out!" cried Tricky. His parents ran, and evaded the powerful bombs which flew way away and exploded harmlessly in the desert.

"Where did those come from?" the King wondered, "who dares to shoot at the royal family of the Earth-Walker tribe?"

Tricky couldn't understand it, but then he thought, "Hey… maybe it was Fox and Krystal trying to warn us…"

…

Back in the lair…

The battle was beginning to get extreme as the creatures began to fight back with their ray-guns. "Krystal, quick… start he car! We've got to get out of here." Fox told her and no sooner had Krystal started the car did the warning alarm go off.

It was too late as Fox and Krystal were already on their way, and the monorail couldn't go back until it reached the other end. Still, that didn't mean the creatures still couldn't shoot at it from down below.

One of the creatures fired and Fox counted with his own blast. "ARGH…!" the creature fell back on a console that caused it to break… and suddenly the pipes began to let their water go. "Fox, what's happening out there?" asked Krystal.

"Just keep going Krystal…" Fox told her, "They'll never stop us now."

As more water began to pour in, the whole building began to rumble and quake as the machinery began to blow-up, and rocks began to tumble from the ceiling. "Fox, what's going on?" cried Krystal.

Fox gazed down below, "It's the pressure of all these pipelines. The water's coming in!" he shut the door and climbed back inside. "Good thing this car's far off the ground and keeping us out of the water."

The base was flooding fast and the trembles and explosions were getting worse. "Krystal can't you get anymore speed? The water's gushing in faster than ever. This whole place is going to burst any minute."

But Krystal shook her head, "It's no good Fox. This is maximum speed."

The water was rising fast and beginning to break the base up faster than ever. Fox realized, "If this place blows, it's going to go up with one mighty big bang. We've got to warn the Earth-Walkers to get clear."

…

Outside, the Earth-Walkers were most confused. "What ever is going on in there?" the Queen wondered, "First there's a whole salvage of rockets and then nothing."

"I don't get it either…" said Tricky. "Fox must need help…"

His father agreed, but he pointed out one again there was little they could do as they couldn't fit in the shaft. "We shall just have to wait it out here until they come back."

…

Back inside… the main control-room was almost flooded completely, and the creatures were all drowning. The angry leader kept shouting, _"Sihjo kxuk nhoksxot Star-Fox! SIHJO KXUK NHOKSXOT STAR-FOX…!" __**(Curse that wretched Star-Fox! CURSE THAT WRETCHED STAR-FOX…!)**_

Suddenly he felt himself chocking under the water and slowly sink to the floor along with his men.

Fox and Krystal finally reached the end of the tracks, and were on their way to the elevator-shaft before the water would reach them. They made it outside just in time, and Tricky almost jumped on Fox again… "Tricky, No…!" Fox shouted. "We've got to get out of here!"

"But, Fox… are you alright?" asked King Earth-Walker.

"Not, now…" cried Krystal. "The entire oasis is going to burst any minute!"

Fox and Krystal leapt on the Earth-Walkers' backs, and they all took off as far away from the oasis as they could… and then… IT HAPPENED…!

The oasis burst wide open with a huge explosion, and the water instantly filled the hole once more. Also, the water supplies in all the regions of the planet were restoring themselves now that the base was destroyed.

…

As soon as the water stopped gushing, the King and Queen Earth-Walker extended their thanks to Fox and Krystal. "Because of you two, our mission has been a complete success." The King said, "Our water sources have returned to what they once were, and our lives are no longer in danger."

Fox and Krystal bowed to the King, and then decided to head back to the Great-Fox to make out their reports, but Fox promised to come back and visit like he always did. "Make sure you invite me to the wedding." Tricky had to go for.

Fox blushed with shyness and embarrassment again. "Wedding…? But… we're… we're not yet… uh…?!?"

"You mean you haven't proposed to her yet?" Tricky joked some more.

Krystal fluttered her eyes at Fox, and giggled, making him feel so embarrassed that steam was shooting through his ears. "I thought I told you, no kids allowed." Fox snapped.

"Fox…?!" snapped Tricky. "Knock it off with the kid thing."

Everyone except for Fox shared a laugh.

_**Later on**_…

When Fox and Krystal returned to the ship and reported about what they saw, Slippy did some research into those evil creatures and determined that they were in fact a group of bandits from Aquis. "They were banished from the planet for their evil hocus-pocus with the water."

It was a good thing to know that they wouldn't be causing anymore trouble. This meant we could continue on our mission to stop Andross. "By the way Fox…" Falco joked. "I received a message from Tricky."

"Huh…?"

Falco snickered, and then said, "He said his parents said that if you wanted to… you and Krystal could get married in Thorntail-Hollow."

Fox went numb again, and Krystal giggled girlishly. The rest of us shared a friendly laugh at Fox's reaction. _"Is it that obvious…?"_ Fox though to himself.


	10. A Sight for Sore eyes

**CHAPTER TEN**

General-Tobor had bee busy for the past few days perfecting his latest design for a brand new machine. _"Hmm, mm, mm… Excellent, everything is going according to plan."_ He sniggered, _"With this machine, the Star-Fox team won't know what hit them…"_

His chain of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when Andross appeared on a computer-monitor, _"You mean you still haven't taken down those annoying pests yet?"_ he growled fiercely.

Tobor nearly bursted his bolts in surprise… _"Oh, uh… regrettably no my lord."_ he said, _"But I am in the presence of ensure that, that will be done."_ He motioned Andross' attention to his newest creation, and while Andross was unconvinced at first, after seeing a computer-simulation. _"Very, Tobor… you may proceed. Just don't fail me again, or else!"_ and he signed off.

Tobor sighed irritably, but prepared his latest weapon for launching. _"Hmm, mm, mm… careful Star-Fox team."_

_**Meanwhile**_…

Soaring through Sector-X one day, my siblings I just couldn't stop staring outside. It was so beautiful, all the colorful nebulas mixing in with the stars. "I think I'm in love with this place…" Erin said.

"Ah, you like it now…" Fox said, "Just wait… you don't know what this place is really capable of or what it consists of."

Donny and I however were amazed that the Lylat-system had such remarkable nebulas, especially Sector-X. "Heh…! X-Team explores Sector-X. Wonder if anyone will buy it…" Donny said.

Our mission today was to explore a disturbance in Sector-X by General Pepper's orders…

The forces of Corneria, for many years had been attempting to expand their bases of operation further out into the system. This way, Corneria itself would no longer be the only place that provided defense against attacks, and ships wouldn't have to go so far to be refueled or serviced…

Sector-X would have made an ideal place to set up stations and ports, but lately there had been reports of an odd number of casualties. Construction was put on hold due to the fact that a strange force was tearing the buildings apart, and scaring the workers making it difficult for them to progress. Their ships were also attacked, but whatever it was that did this was never seen or found…

It was our mission today to assist with the work projects and, above all, find the cause of the disturbance and put it out of action. A mission I was looking forward too, because it meant we would get to work in space and actually build things. "I always wanted to build things in space." I said, "It sure will be a change of pace rather than sitting around and waiting for the next machine to attack."

A lot of the others agreed with me, but we all kept in mind that the very reason we were called to the work-zone was because we were looking for something unusual, whether it was a machine or not.

Still, it was safe to know we'd be under the watchful eye one of Corneria's finest foremen of space buildings, _Major. Iggy Guana._

My siblings and I already reached the point that meant that the Major was an _Iguana._ Still, if was all that Fox said he was we had nothing worry about, "Except maybe if he loses his temper in frustration…" Falco reminded us.

It was true that Major. Guana was one to lose his temper, but only due to frustration when work is delayed. We were all told to keep our wits about us as we docked the Great-Fox, near the bay at the construction-zone, and then the Arwings were launched to dock at the office set-ups.

We were all escorted to the head office… "Major. Guana I presume."

The man, or Iguana gazed up from his blue prints, "Fox, you old son of a space gun." He said as he shook Fox's hand. "Great to see you again, and Falco and Krystal too…" Then his eyes fell upon me and my siblings, "Well, I see we have newcomers."

After proper introductions and reviews of our files, the major was grateful to know that he would have "Experts" working with him on the project…

"Oh I wouldn't call us experts, Major." I told him. "This will be in fact our very first time at this sort of business."

The Major was aware of this as well, but he had faith in us. "If Fox believe in you all, then I'm sure that I myself can believe in you just as much." He said to us, "So… if it's not too much trouble…"

Erin cracked her knuckles, "Dang-it, while were young."

"Oh, yeah I'm up for this…" added Donny.

Realizing how much they wanted to get to work, as well as I myself wanted to I turned to the Major, "Congratulations Major. Guana… you just hired The X-Team."

With that settled… it was time to head out…

Donny, Erin, and Falco hopped into their assigned vehicles, while Fox, Krystal, and I donned specially-fitted suits to help with the outer tasks. "Ouch… this suit pinches!" I complained as moved around with it on.

Fox and Krystal sighed; they knew this was going to happen, but they assured me it wouldn't pinch as much when we got outside. "The weightlessness will make it lighter, and less likely to pinch as much."

"Less likely…?" I asked as I put n the helmet, _"It's a start…"_

Once step outside, and I almost forgot how to shut my eyes. _"Wow…!"_ so many wonderful sights I saw. For one moment I was wondering if this was all a dream… _"If it is… please don't' wake me up."_ I joked when I realized that it was real again.

Fox and Krystal sniggered, and then it was time. Slippy, Peppy and ROB continued to monitor things from the Great-Fox. "Nothing's going to get through here without us watching…" Slippy said.

"_When you say that, it's when I worry the most…"_ Falco said over the transmission.

Slippy frowned in annoyance. "Does he ever have anything nice to say?"

"_I heard that…!"_

"Look sharp you guys, we got work to do." Peppy said

…

Erin, Donny, and Falco were in vehicles that greatly resembled the same types on construction-machines on Earth, only they were designed as spaceships. Grip-lifters, dumping-vehicles… Donny was glad he got to man "The Crusher." Which lived up to its name like it would on Earth… crushed and mashed all the extra, unneeded bits of material down to dust that could be recycled for more practical uses. "Oh, yeah man… just like on Terminator-2! Crush that wood!"

Erin shook her head while softly sniggering as she maneuvered her ship carefully to place solid beams into place, while Falco used his machine's special lasers to weld them into place.

Fox, Krystal, and I were busy with the smaller tasks that were too big for the ships to do. I felt like I was in Auto-shop in high-school again. I also noticed Fox was helping Krystal out an awful lot, and she was really thankful to him for it.

As much as I wanted to poke some more fun at him, I decided to continue on with my work, while at the same time keeping an eye out for anything suspicions.

…

Peppy and Slippy couldn't detect anything on the Great-Fox's radar, but Suddenly ROB began to twitch. "What's the matter ROB?" Slippy asked.

"_My sensors are detecting an unfamiliar energy source closing in on the surrounding area. Coordinates unknown..."_

Peppy and Slippy couldn't understand that. Their radar's showed nothing on tracking, and they couldn't see anything unusual out there. "You sure you're sensors have been fixed?" Peppy asked. "There's nothing out there…"

…

Outside, Fox, Krystal and I were still working on the interiors of the new base, while the others were still in their vehicles doing the heavy work… when suddenly. POW! A stream of laser-beams shot at us on the interior-area, _"Look out!"_ Fox cried as he tackled Krystal out of the line of fire, and I used my thrusters to escape. _"Hey, watch it Falco!"_

Flaco was confused, "What are you talking about?"

Now it was my turn to feel confused. _"I didn't get it… didn't you just fire your lasers at us?"_

As much Falco thought how funny and tempting that would be, he admitted that he didn't do it, but Donny reported that he saw those lasers just come out of nowhere, and then… Erin began to grunt and groan as it looked as though her ship was struggling. "Hey! Let go…!"

What struck us as odd was, there was nothing even near her, yet it looked as though her ship was being held-up by something. "Uh, Erin… what's the matter?" asked Donny.

Erin, through her grunts, and growls answered, "Something's…UGH! Something's got a-hold of my ship. It's trying to… MMM! Yank the beams out of my… grip!"

All of us exchanged looks of confusion, and then Fox pulled out his blaster from his belt. _"Time to see what this is all about…"_ and he fired at the area in front of Erin's vehicle.

POW! Something indeed got hit, and then came into our views. _"What is that…?"_ I asked.

Peppy and Slippy immediately scanned the machine before it had a chance to retaliate. "All set with the check…" Peppy said.

_Name: Space-Shift._

_Weapon: Laser._

_Special ability: Camouflage!_

We all immediately began to realize that this was obviously the source of what was causing all the trouble around the construction-zone, and that we had to knock it out of commission. "Hey… where did it go?" cried Erin.

We all looked around. And judging that we couldn't see it told us that it shifted again. _"Spread out…"_ I suggested as I headed back to my Arwing, _"It hast to be around here somewhere."_

As everyone looked around, they couldn't suddenly see the construction being blasted at or just fall apart as if something had crashed into it hard. "I think I got it…" Erin said as she steered her ship forward trying to wham it, as it didn't have lasers, but she ended up missing the machine entirely and crashing through a wall. "Opps…"

"Nice going Erin…" Falco mocked. "I just fixed that!"

We all tried our radar scanners but none of us were able to detect where it was anywhere. "It must have a special surface…" Slippy warned us, "A surface that deflects all means of outside detection."

"_Well that won't help us…"_ Krystal pointed out, _"There must be someway of locating where it is."_

Major. Guana was already losing his cool as three levels had suffered maximum damage. "My beautiful creation, RUINED AGAIN!" he cried. "Fox… you must stop that thing!"

That was easier said than done. Without any means of detection, Space-Shift was hard to find. It moved around so quickly when it attacked the buildings, even though it gave itself away by doing so, "It keeps moving…" I shouted. "Every time we try to get it in our sights, it goes off somewhere else."

Then things went from bad to worse as Space-Shift began to attack us as well; damaging our ships, shooting me in the Arwing, and hitting the Great-Fox. "Slippy… turn on the plasma-shields!" Peppy ordered.

The shields were activated and would protect the ship from most attacks for a while, but it still didn't solve the problem of how to stop the Space-Shift.

The suddenly Fox had an idea. He aimed his blaster carefully. _"Fox… what are you doing?"_ Krystal asked. _"Trust me…"_ Fox simply said. He waited until Space-Shift gave away its position and then fired…

BAM! Space-shift was hit, and while a simple shot as that didn't give him any damage, it did however temporarily disarm his camouflage-system, exposing him completely. _"Mykan, there it is. Get him!"_ Fox cried.

"I'm on it…" I said as I steered my Arwing into position. "Oh, no you don't! You're not getting away from me." I fired my lasers and hit Space-Shift multiple times, but that's when it began to retaliate by firing back at me. I got hit a few times and was shaken badly in my cockpit, "Whoa! Ah!"

I was alright, but I had lost sight of Space-Shift. "Oh, no…! It shifted again."

We all looked around for it, and we could it whenever it attacked the construction-site, but this time it was sneakier than ever; being cautious not to let itself get shot at this time. So it moved a lot faster than ever, making it more difficult to expose and attack.

"_Somehow, we have to find a way to keep that thing from being able to hide itself…"_ Donny thought, and then he had an idea. "Hey, Erin, come here…!" he motioned, and he explained his plan to her.

"Not bad… it might just do the trick."

At once, she began to load up the scraps of debris into the crushed and Donny melted them all down. Then he signaled for the rest of us to try and lead Space-Shift over towards him. "Do ask questions, just do it!"

Krystal and Fox whipped out their staffs and used the rocket-thrusts to maneuver into place. They called to the Space-Shift, wherever it was and mocked it. _"Come and get us… if you can!"_

It began to follow them, and they could tell where it was by the path of destruction it caused as it moved in closer. Fox and Krystal stayed right where they were,_ just below the crusher's ejection tube…_

The waited for the right moment, and then, "NOW…!" They quickly rocketed out of the way, which gave Donny the signal to dump the hot-stuff onto Space-Shift, completely coating it in hot-goop, exposing where it was.

"GET IT…!" I shouted, and we all began to open fire, or smash objects into it, anything that all to damage Space-Shift. Finally, it began to spark, and explode. "That's it! You got it!" cried Peppy.

_**KAPOW!**_

It was blasted to bits…!

We all cheered for joy, but easily the happiest one was Major Guana. Finally construction could be reopened with no more difficulties. He was so happy, that he actually had a tear to shed…

…

While Tobor however was blowing his circuits in anger, _"I can't believe it!"_ he thundered. _"Ooh… just you wait Star-Fox. I'll get you yet!"_

…

Andross who had been observing the whole incident was also very angry. _"And just you wait until you report back to be, Tobor!"_ he growled. _"I'll destroy that blasted Star-Fox team… EVEN IF IT TAKES A MELLENIUM…!"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

Major. Guana had received word from General Pepper on Corneria that the project was already approved of, and even as they spoke the equipment was well on its way with a whole new band of workers as well.

"Fox, I have to hand it to you…" he just had to say, "Without your help, my dreams would all be crushed. How can I ever thank you enough?"

Fox chuckled, "Well, I don't think we really need the thanks. It's all in the days work. Too bad we can't stay to help out anymore."

Major. Guana understood completely. We all had the rest of the system to protect, "Who knows where Andross will strike next?" I pointed out.

"Well, wherever that may be… we'll be ready for him." said Falco.

We bid our final farewells and then headed back to the Great-Fox which was ready to take us out of Sector-X. Another mission was successfully accomplished.


	11. Dino Danger

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

After a long while on space-patrol, the Great-Fox needed refueling and servicing again. So it was back to Corneria. Peppy and Slippy stayed behind to help with the servicing and to sort out a few things… while General Pepper gave the rest of us time off… _Keeping in mind that even with the Great-Fox out of action, the Arwings were still operational. We could still be sent off on a short-distant mission anytime._

Falco hopped on his hover-bike and hit the streets like he always did. The rest of us just decided to take it easy and enjoy a beautiful day in the grassy fields near the woods… away from the base and all that high-tech stuff.

The girls and Donny were out hiking while Fox and I were minding lunch. A huge pot of beef-stew with vegetables; Just the thing for the great outdoors. I sat on a rock near the picnic area while I whittled away some dead bark with my pocket-knife. As I sat there in the shade, I couldn't help but chuckle softly the way Fox was acting…

He was just sitting there, staring into space, while absentmindedly stirring the stew. He was humming casually. I could tell exactly what was on his mind or _who_ for that mater. "Oh, lover boy…" I called to him, "How's that grub coming man, I'm starving."

Fox didn't respond, and just kept humming casually.

"Fox…?"

No response.

"Fo-ox…?"

No response.

"Ro-bear…?"

Still no response…

"HEY…!"

Fox finally snapped out of it, "Huh? What did you say…?"

I thought as much as I shook my head. "You're minds not on the food. You're thinking about someone special. About, you're height. Blue fur and you smell that sweet scent that is her."

I sniffed the air, and suddenly I gasped and coughed hard. Then suddenly, Fox and I noticed the black smoke form the pot of stew sitting on the fire too long. "Hey, whoa… it's boiling over!" cried Fox.

I quickly grabbed the pot off the fire and slammed it on a rock to cool. "You idiot, you're burning the chow!" I growled as I fanned away the smoke with my jacket.

Fox felt really ashamed, which led me to believe I was right. He was thinking about Krystal again. "Are my feelings that obvious?" he asked me. I gave him the traditional look that mean, _"Yes…"_

Fox sighed; he was finding it harder and harder to keep his feelings for Krystal way down. "Look, Fox…" I said to him as I tried to fix what was left of the burned stew, "Just stop moaning and groaning all the time. Well know you and Krystal have it for each other… why don't you just pop the question to her already?"

Fox's face turned red, but at least since Krystal wasn't around he made no attempt to hide it this time. "I can't just do that." he said, "I mean sure, we're both part of the Cornerian force, and we love to spend time together, but that's it. I mean… that's just not the way it would work out for me."

"Oh, come on Fox…" I said. "Look what you two have done to get this far. You saved her life on Sauria. You gave her a home and a new purpose in life. You've always been there for her. I'll bet you Krystal would go wild if you asked her."

Fox still wasn't convinced. He admitted that I was right about all that other stuff, saving Krystal's life and looking out for her, but to him it just wouldn't work, "Besides… what else have I really got to offer her? Other than a life of danger, and missions and things like that…"

I sniffed a spoonful of the burned stew; it still smelled like burnt rubber. "Well… for one thing, you can't cook." I joked.

Now it was Fox's turn to give me a look. "Mykan, I'm being serious! Krystal's more than just a warrior. She's the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on."

"So, she's pretty… what's so bad about that?" I asked.

Fox finally admitted that he just wasn't so sure about asking Krystal to share his life with him, _unaware that Erin was just coming by on her own._ "I can't just ask Krystal to risk her life every day until she gets killed. What kind of a proposal or a future is that?"

"Oh, Fox… lighten up…!" Erin said which surprised Fox so much that he fell off his feet. "Oh, don't tell me you're going to start…"

Erin waved her hands, "Whoa… somebody's having a bad day."

Fox sighed. He was really confused. "Haven't you guys ever been in love before?" he asked us, "And you feel like you get cold feet?"

Erin shook her head, "No way am I getting messed up in that stuff." she said. "I'd rather keep it myself until I meet someone guaranteed to love me just for me, and not my looks."

Fox thought she was being silly, the way she was dressed in her uniform and those shades over her eyes. She's looked like a regular rebel. "What about you Mykan…?" Fox asked.

That's when he noticed that I began to look down in the dumps, but unlike Fox I decided not to keep it to myself, and I admitted that there was a time when I thought it was for real…

It was in High-School, when a pretty girl I thought I was in love with took an interest in me. She thought I was handsome, cool, and yes she liked me because I was an expert gamer. She was into video-games a little too… and we hung out a lot.

I thought I had found someone other than Donny, and Erin to share my interests with, but… that's when the blow of ill fortune struck me. The girl made some new friends… those that thought video-games were silly, and they thought I was pathetic…

I tried to explain to them that it wasn't true, but even the girl began to treat me like them, and her interest in video-games had vanished. _"I'm sorry, Mykan… but Things Change."_ she told me, _"I grew out of it, and I know soon you'll do the same."_

I refused to grow out of video-games. They were half of my life, and part of what made me who I was. They helped me make money too. So I decided to dump the girl for the way she treated me…

She begged me to forgive her, but I never gave her the chance. Too upset and too angry to have a care in the world, and that's when I put on my sunglasses for the first time, and hardly ever took them off… wearing them as a sort of mask to hide my eyes, because I was shamed.

Erin and Donny hated to see me like this, and they began to wear shades too showing how much thy cared for me, and I would always cherish them for perking me back up.

"I never trusted another girl again." I said, "And I decided to just avoid all romance entirely. This way I'm guaranteed not get hurt again." It also made me feel happier to know I was thousands out light-years from Earth and I wouldn't have to worry about it as much.

Fox didn't know whether to feel pitiful or sorry for my troubles, but above all it didn't help him work out what to do about Krystal. Even when the whole gang gathered for lunch… everyone could catch a glimpse of Fox peeking over at Krystal. Even Krystal herself couldn't resist peeking back at Fox.

Donny, Erin, and I exchanged looks of dismay. Those two were acting more stubborn than Falco was. "Pst… yo…" Donny whispered to us, "Do you think those guys will ever get it on?"

Erin and I had our doubts, but no mater how much we wanted to see it happen, it wasn't our position to try and force Fox and Krystal together. They would have to decide for themselves.

After we ate, Fox stood on the edge of the forest entrance by himself while Erin, Donny, and I cleaned up around the picnic site. We also saw Krystal sitting alone on a rock near the entrance where Fox was. The both of them were alone, and they were talking to each other… this looked like it would be it!

Krystal had told Fox how sometimes she felt like she couldn't be safe anywhere, even on Corneria. Fox knew how she felt, having seen her home planet explode and barely escaping from it alive. "Sometimes… I feel like I don't know what the right decision is to make." Fox said. "I don't know if putting everyone in danger all the time is always the right thing to do."

Krystal thought it was almost cute that Fox cared so much about everyone's safety. "Fox… all I know is, no matter what danger comes near, you'll never be alone, and you don't have to be alone."

Fox was grateful to hear those words, and he gently placed his hand over Krystal's, "Thanks, Krystal. That does mean a lot to me." he said with a smile. Then he and Krystal realized that they were lost, gazing deeply into each others eyes, very slowly their face moved towards each other…

"Go on! Go on!" I muttered under my breath, but just as their lips were centimeters away, _"General Pepper here…"_ the moment was spoiled, much to everyone's deepest dismay. Nevertheless we were being called to duty, so we had to head back to base…

Once we met up with Falco at base… we were given our mission brief. There had been reports of a crash-landing of ships on Planet Fortuna.

"Fortuna…?" Donny asked. "Isn't that supposed be another dinosaur planet?"

"Correct Donny… but nothing at all like Sauria..." Pepper explained. Fortuna's inhabitance were savage dinosaur machines, created by Andross during the days of Foxes first missions. The planet was now a living disaster are that everyone knew was to be treated with extreme caution while attempting to explore it…

"So who crashed on the planet…?" Krystal wondered.

Pepper didn't know how else to say it so he was just blunt. "It was Star Wolf…"

Fox, and Falco gasped, and their featured changed as if they had just bitten into lemons. Erin, Donny I were confused, "Who's Star Wolf…?" Erin asked.

Krystal whispered in her ear the word _rival_, and the rest pretty much spoke for itself. It didn't matter that much to General Pepper. Even though Star-Wolf was originally hired by Andross to kill the Star-Fox team, they no longer worked for him, and weren't exactly bad guys by Peppers point of view.

We were told to go off and investigate, and those were Pepper's orders.

…

Slippy and Peppy stayed behind, while the rest of us headed out into space with the Arwings, seeing as how Fortuna wasn't really that far. "Of all the guys in the system, why did it have to be him?" Fox groaned. "I mean, what's to say that this isn't another one of his set-ups to kill us?"

"For once I actually agree with you, McCloud." Said Falco, "I'd like to give that Leon Powalski as taste of my beak's sharpness."

"All right… that's enough you two." Krystal said. "I'm sure that Wolf has a good explanation for getting trapped."

"Oh, right… who do you expect will back up his story, _Panther,_ maybe?" Fox argued. Krystal thought that was very childish of Fox to say that. As for me and my siblings, we couldn't take much more of all the bickering, so we turned off our free-wave radio's and only kept in contact with each other until the others straightened out…

It wasn't long before we reached Fortuna, "Aw, man… look at this place!" Donny said as he motioned to the wastelands down below. It was mostly just rock canyons, and dilapidated forests. The only thing that actually seemed remotely clean were the lakes and rivers… that is, if they weren't home to so many hungry-looking machine-dinos.

One of them stuck it huge head up and growled at me, I just shot at it, "Ahh… Shut up!" I growled at it. The Dinosaur roared at me this time, "Ahh, Shut you're big yap or I'll give you another-one!"

"Way to tell him, Mykan…" Erin complimented.

I gave my sister a thumb-up, and we all continued on our flight. That's when Krystal's scanner began to detect energy sources, and as we neared the source of the signal, "Hey look down there…!" Donny said.

We could all se bits and pieces ship wreckages. Fox recognized those ships anywhere, "The Wolfens…!" which he explained us where what the members of Star-Wolf piloted… like us in the Arwings.

"Let's set down and take a closer look…" Erin suggested.

We all pulled on our steering controls, but as we got closer to the ground. I suddenly got that feeling up my spine that something bad was about to happen… and suddenly… SMASH! "Whoa…!"

"Mykan…!" cried Donny, "What's the mater?" and then suddenly he felt something hit his ship as well. "Hey…! What the--"

Suddenly, everyone felt their ships being hit by something big. "Let's get out of here!" cried Krystal, and we all hit our boosters and zoomed away fast. We finally touched down somewhere flat and safe from any dangers that we knew of… and inspected our ships. A few huge dents were seen in the hulls… but so far no major damage.

"What the heck hit us…?" Fox wondered.

None of us had the answer, but we could suddenly hear giant footsteps heading our way. "Uh… anybody else know what that is…?" Donny asked.

Whatever it was, it was getting closer as the footsteps became stronger. "Look… there's a cave." cried Erin.

"Well what are we waiting for…?" Falco practically snarled, and we all dashed away from our ships and into the cave. "We should be safe here for a while…" I Fox said.

"Uh… I wouldn't be so sure of that… Look!" cried Donny. We all turned and saw a spooky shadow along the cave walls. Fox got out his blaster, and I got out my staff. "Well, well… look what the Cornish Cornerian's drove in. Always shooting before asking, Fox?"

"Wolf…!" Fox gasped. "Wolf O'Donnell... so this isn't a set up. Is it…?"

"Well duh… you think." Wolf protested, and then his eyes fell upon me and my siblings. "Well, well… look at this, you got yourselves some new recruits. Never thought you had it in you, McCloud."

Erin, Donny and I could suddenly see what made this guy a rival to Fox. "Does he ever say anything nice?" Donny muttered.

After a few, so-called introductions, we met Panther, and Leon, who were also in the cave. Panther was still holding onto a rose. "Ahh… the lovely lady Krystal it is." He said trying to flirt with her. Krystal only sighed, and Fox turned red as a beat but he kept his cool.

"So… I hear you kids came from a planet called Earth." Leon questioned us. "Very interesting… but what brings all of you here is what we wish to know."

We explained to them about hearing word of the team crashing, "And as amusing as it is to watch you squirm… we had to help out." Fox mocked. "But something began to attack us out there… so we ran here for shelter."

As much as Wolf wanted to laugh at us he just didn't have the heart, "We came here on this planet to explore it some more, but we were all shipwrecked." he told us. "I don't know how to tell you-kids this... but you just walked right into a trap."

He then motioned us to look at the cave entrance, and there it was, a Monarch-Dodra, twice as big as any Fox had ever encountered. It was standing right at the cave-entrance growling at us.

"We are so boned…" Erin groaned."

…

We all sat around and chatted awhile about what to do. It became obvious that this Dodra was the one that attacked us in our Arwings, but what we couldn't understand was why…

After Fox and crew first battled their way to Venom, Fox destroyed one of the former Dodras prompting all of the planet's Dodras programming to always steer clear of Fox or anything like him.

"What would prompt this one into attacking us…?" I wondered.

"We haven't the slightest idea…?" Leon said. "Besides… even if we find a way to get out of here, what good are the chances that your Arwings aren't still in one piece?"

That's when we noticed that the Dodra was no longer at the cave entrance; we all rushed over and could see that it was gazing at our parked Arwings. "Look all you want, dude… just don't hurt them…!" Donny muttered softly.

The Dodra's two heads gazed upon two of the ships with curiosity, when suddenly… _"Dodra…Halt!"_ called a familiar voice, it was General-Tobor. He was holding a remote control in his hand, and the Dodra seemed to be obeying Tobor's commands.

"_You must save your batteries and keep watch over the cave."_ Tobor scolded, _"Now that we have Star-Fox, Star-Wolf, and the X-team where we want them, it is only a matter of time before we finish them off for good, and then you can go as you please."_

"So… Tobor's behind all this." Falco said, "And where' there's Tobor…"

"There's Andross!" Fox sneered.

"So what are we going to do now…?" Panther wondered.

We couldn't call the Great-Fox, as it was still being serviced on Corneria, and the only way to stand up to that monster was to get back into the Arwings; easier said than done now that it was blocking the cave entrance again. None of our weapons could even stun the beast; even Krystal's Staff-barrier couldn't protect us against anything that big.

"Hey! I got an idea…" Wolf said.

"Great, I hope it's better than getting us into even bigger trouble." Falco mocked. Wolf simple sneered and then explained his idea was to wait until night-fall. "Even machine dinosaurs don't have the proper night vision they should have."

We all began to catch on to his plan. If we tried to move around at night, we would have a chance to make it to the Arwings's without being seen or get caught as easily.

"Wait… what about Tobor?" I asked. "Surely he has the power to see in the dark, what if he signals the Dodra to go after us?"

Wolf explained that someone would have to try and break for the Arwings, while others would take hiding places and be ready to shoot at the Dodra and Tobor to distract them. "It's only choice. You in or not…?"

Most of us jumped at the opportunity, and we all gave Fox and Falco looks telling them, _"Come on, guys…"_ and they too agreed, though they had a feeling deep down they were going to regret trusting Wolf and his gang.

We all decided to just spread out and rest as we would need our strength for when night would fall. Finally, when it got dark some hours later… it was time to make our move. Tobor was resting, _or charging his batteries as he was a machine…_

The point was, he didn't seem to be paying attention, and the Dodra was doing the same. It was time to make our move. Fox and I would try and head for the Arwings, while Krystal, Panther and Wolf took hiding places to create distractions.

"Don't worry Krystal… I won't let that Dodra harm a hair your pretty head." Panther flirted.

"Thanks…. I guess." Krystal said, but Fox was still not impressed. "Hey, come on, Fox… let it go." I whispered to him, then he and I began to move out of the cave side-stepping along the walls on the steep ridges.

Donny, Erin, Falco, and Leon could only watch from the cave while the plan went into action. Falco and Leon got into a little small argument of whether or not Fox would fall over and hurt himself.

But Fox didn't fall over… I did! "Ohh…! Ah!" I slipped of the ridge and sprained my leg. "My leg…!" I cried. "I sprained my leg!"

My shouting awoke the Dodra… and Tobor. _"Huh… What?"_ then he saw what was happening, and whipped out his control box. _"Dodra quick, attack!"_

The Dodra began to awaken, "Fox, Keep going, don't worry about me!" I called. Fox hesitated at first but kept right on going. I was still feeling okay enough to get out my staff and begin firing at the monster, but just as we figured, my attacks did nothing. The Dodra was just too big, but luckily the others began to fire at Tobor, causing him to lose concentration and control as he tried to avoid the blasts, allowing Fox to continue.

The Dodra was spinning around all confused and disoriented for Tobor wasn't giving it proper commands. "Keep going guys…" Donny called from the cave.

Finally, we managed to shoot the control box out of Tobor's hand completely destroying it. _"No!"_ Tobor cried. Then, things got worse instead of better, as the Dodra was now free to do as it pleased, and it had its two huge heads fixed on me, and I was still trapped as my leg hurt too much. "Mykan!" cried Krystal, "Mykan, get out of there!"

"Ugh… Ow! I-- I can't! I can't move my leg…"

The Dodra was getting closer, and it looked like I was finally going to meet my maker when suddenly, an Arwing came soaring over the hillside. "Fox…!" I called.

The Dodra growled at the ship and began to follow it away from the caves. "That's it big-boy… come and get it." Fox mocked.

Finally once the Dodra was far enough from the caves, using the same method he used last time, KAPOW… Fox blew it to bits. Sad to say that Tobor was not impressed, _"GRR…! Curse you Fox McCloud! You and you're team!"_ and then he noticed that he was surrounded by the all the others.

"Surrender, Tobor!" Erin snarled at him.

"No where to run now, Dude." added Donny.

Tobor's growling suddenly turned to laughter, _"Hmm, mm, mm… you're right. So I guess I'll just take the fast way out. Ta-ta! Ma, ha, ha, ah, ah…!"_ and he vanished into thin air.

Everyone gasped in anger, "I finally thought we had him…" said Krystal.

"We'll get him someday, Krystal." Fox said over his communicator, "Right now, lets just be glad were all still in one piece."

That's when I cleared my throat. "Excuse me…" I said pointed out that my leg was still sore, "But, now that the danger's over, would someone care to HELP ME OUT OF HERE…!"

_**Meanwhile**_…

Tobor flicked on his holographic transmitter, where an image of Andross was shown, _"General Tobor, reporting…"_

Andross' eyes narrowed in anger, _"So… not only did you fail me again, Tobor, but you managed to even let the Star-Wolf team get away!"_

Tobor tried to speak in his defense, _"Master, please believe me… I was so close this time."_

"_Close does not cut it, Tobor…"_ replied Andross, _"And secondly, I did not ask for you to speak! Wait here while I decide what to do with you…"_ then he was gone.

Tobor clenched his metal-fists angrily, and vowed that we would all pay for this outrage! _"So long as I survive…!"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

All the Arwings were heading for the nearest armory where we could drop off the Star-Wolf team. I flew my ship by remote control, since my leg hurt too much to use the pedals, and Wolf and his men rode in the emergency capsules. Wolf with Fox, Panther with Krystal, and Falco carried Leon…

"How are you feeling, Mykan?" Krystal asked me.

"To be honest, I feel pretty useless with this plaster on my leg…" I said, but at least I would survive, and it was a good reminder of how much that no matter how good I was at video-games… this was not a game!

"I'm so glad everyone made it out alright…" Panther said, "Especially you Krystal."

Krystal actually thanked him for his concern this time, "I'm glad you're okay too Panther."

Fox heard that, and as they continued to talk to each other, he just shut off the transmission and sighed. My siblings and I caught a glimpse of his sad face, but we knew there wasn't much that could be done now.

Someday we knew Fox and Krystal would be together… we hoped!


	12. Sunny days

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

A few days ago, the Cornerian forces were launching a most intriguing project ever. _"Project-Solar"_

The Lylat-System's sun, Solar… was a red dwarf-star. Much smaller, and not as hot compared to the sun we knew on Earth. Still… it was interesting to study, and this project was going to make a break through in all of the Lylat-System's history.

Three volunteers from Corneria: _Commander. Mozart Catseye. Lt. Fuzzy Bearo, and Lt. Sora Raven…_ All three of them were selected amongst all others to fly in a specially fitted ship all the way to Solar.

The objective of the project to gather fragments of matter that Solar blew out within its flares; In other words the objective of the mission was collect a piece of the star itself. All precautions into making the Solar-Ship were seen to it which would guard the three solarnauts against Solar's heat, and radiation.

The same materials that kept the Arwings safe were the same coating of the hull of the ship, and it had powerful rockets strong enough to break free of its powerful gravity. If all went according to plan… and the mission a success… Corneria would be the very first planet in the system to obtain of piece of Solar.

The day the ship was launched was truly a thing to honor… Onboard the Great-Fox somewhere else in the Lylat-System, all of us were watching the images of the ship being launched from a few days ago… _except for Slippy and ROB._

"You know… a ship launching never fails to give me a kick." Fox said.

"You and me both, Fox…" I said, "Just think… a ship to the very star itself." It amazed me and siblings that such technology ever existed in the universe. Too bad we didn't have the stuff to look at our sun that way…

"Say… where's Slippy…?" asked Erin, "Doesn't he want to watch this?"

Peppy chuckled, "You know how Slippy is when he's working on something big…" he told us, "He doesn't like to be disturbed, not for anything."

…

Slippy was in his cabin working on upgrading ROB's systems. "No, no… that won't do at all." he muttered to himself. "At this rate, I'll never find a way to get these systems upgraded."

Just then there was a knock at the door, "Enter…!" Slippy called. Donny walked in, "Gee, you sure look busy." he said as he noted the scattering of his tools. "Still trying to give ROB his upgrade?"

Slippy nodded, "I just don't get what I'm doing wrong. He still takes a long time to answer, and he can barley make any accurate calculations at all."

Donny asked Slippy if he wanted to come watch the Solar-Project, "They'll be going into orbit in five minutes."

"…Four and one-quarter minutes to be exact." Slippy corrected him. Donny was amazed; Slippy seemed to know ever calculation of the project by heart as if he designed it.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Andross, who was well aware of the Solar-project, had an idea. He clicked a switch to show him that strange glowing power generator. The power level was much higher than ever now, but whatever it was going to be used for, Andross was still not convinced it was ready. It needed more power…

"_Perhaps the Solar-Project will come in handy to me."_ he said to himself. In his years of science-experiments even he himself knew how to make good use of star-rays, the only problem was, he couldn't allow Corneria to have the first real sample of Solar-fragments.

Luckily he had built a device that was able to help him carry out this mission to stop the Solar-Ship, _"TOBOR…!"_ he shouted.

Tobor rushed to him at once, _"You called my lord…?"_

Andross nodded and presented him with his next task, _"You know what to do, and no mistakes, or else!"_

Tobor bowed to his master, _"I swear to you sire… I will not fail."_ and he was off, leaving Andross to chuckle maliciously to himself.

_**Meanwhile**_…

The three solarnauts, Mozart, Fuzzy, and Sora were now preparing for the final phases in their mission. "It's amazing…" Sora said, "Our instruments are reducing the heat and glare of Solar millions of times."

"Yeah… and it's still pretty powerful." added Fuzzy. Regardless, they were all being very brave and completely trusting in the precautions built into their ship. "Temperature, nearing 120-degress...." Sora said.

"Increase refrigeration, two marks." Mozart said.

A small unit was built into the ship's cabin too keep the insides nice and cool. The three solarnauts sighed heavenly. "Just think… without all these gadgets we'd have melted away hours ago." Fuzzy said.

Now came the tricky bit… calculating the angle and proximities to go into correct orbit. "That _is_ the tricky bit..." Fuzzy said, "If we miss the orbit we could wind up heading straight for Solar."

Commander Mozart however was more than confident they were going to be okay. "Remember… if anything goes wrong we have the power to break free."

They all checked their controls, "Stand-by to fire retros." replied Mozart. "Ten seconds. Check radiation and temperature levels."

"Temperature, A-okay." said Sora.

"Radiation, A-okay." added Fuzzy.

"Five seconds… four, three, two, one… Retros…!"

The rockets fired and the ship began to steer into position. "Perfect! We're on correct orbit." Mozart said. "Now, let's check the systems and prepare for fragment obtaining."

The others nodded and got straight to work…

_**Meanwhile**_…

Except for Slippy, the rest of us had just received reports that the solar-ship was safely locked into orbit, and it was only a matter time before the matter fragments of Solar would be gathered.

"_The tension here on Corneria is mounting."_ The reporter said. _"But all signs show the solarnauts are in excellent condition."_

Krystal felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. "Ooh… this is so exciting." She said, "Surely Slippy won't want to miss this."

"Forget it…" Donny said, "I already tried… and he's got no interest."

Fox sighed, "When is Slippy going to learn that ROB's just fine as he is. Why upgrade him?"

_**Meanwhile**_…

Tobor was hovering through space in one of Andross' newest creations, _Jam-a-matic_; aver powerful machine that could jam certain signals or controls half a system away at least.

"_Heh, heh, heh… target locked."_ He chuckled to himself in the cockpit. _"Shame… to see such a fine ship go to waste."_ then he activated it's beams, and all he had to do now was wait…

_**Meanwhile**_…

It was time…

Solar-Ship's tractor-beams were armed and poised directly at Solar. "Stand by to fire." Commanded Mozart, "Five, four, three, two, one… NOW…!"

The beams fired and began to gather the fragments of matter off the flares. "It's working…" Sora cried, "Supply tanks filling up, at five-percent per minute."

"Temperature and radiation still in the green." added Fuzzy.

A few moments later, "There…! That's it!" cried Sora, "All tanks filled at one-hundred percent."

"We've done it!" cried Mozart. "Let's do a final equipment check."

"And then… back to Corneria." added Fuzzy.

…

The reports had come in that entire mission was successful, _"The fragments have been collected and are now safely stored within the Solar-Ship."_

"Gee… I got to hand it to those guys… they sure know what their doing." Falco said.

"And here we thought something was going to go wrong." added Fox, but then suddenly…

"_Hold it folks… something's gone wrong."_ cried the reporter. _"For reasons seemly unknown, the solar-ship has seemed to have lost ability to change it's course. The tracking stations report that the ship is on a direct collision course with Solar. Stay-tuned in for further reports on this story…!"_

"You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" Falco mocked at Fox.

"I don't understand…" I said, "What could've gone wrong? All the equipment was in perfect working order."

Peppy had a strong hunch, "There's only one answer. Something must be jamming their ship's controls."

We all suddenly began to believe he was right; no other explanation would be accurate enough. "It's Andross' doing. I just know it!" Fox growled.

This was terrible, the solarnauts were heading to crash into Solar, and they couldn't fire the retros to break away.

"Hold on a minute…!" Erin cut in. "If those guys in there are being jammed, can't Corneria just send a radio beam to fire the rockets by remote-control?"

Peppy had thought of that too, "In fact, I'd dare that their probably trying it now… its just that I doubt that the technology that they have is strong enough to make it that far, or even withstand the radiation of solar at such a close distance."

Just then the reported on the TV explained that the station was now going to General Pepper for an urgent bulletin.

Pepper was standing behind a podium, _"All efforts to alter solar-ship's course by radio-beam have failed. Now I have a vital request to make… Star-Fox team… X-Team… if you are indeed watching this telecast… please contact me at once."_

"_I repeat; this is an emergency. Star-Fox… X-team… contact me at once."_

"Now how did I know that was going happen?" Fox said as he contacted the General, and agreed to for us to attempt a rescue-mission… but this was going to be a tough one. Nevertheless, we changed our course and began to head off towards Solar.

_**Meanwhile**_…

The solar-ship continued along in its decaying orbit, and the three solarnauts were still unable to fire the retros. "It's no use… it's not working!" cried Mozart. "They're just not working."

The temperature was rising fast again, so the refrigeration was increased again, but that didn't stop the ship from falling towards Solar. "Whatever's jamming us… it's got a tight grip." said Sora. "Were getting way to close to the star...."

"And getting closer every minute!" cried Fuzzy. "I hate to say this, guys, but I'm scared."

The other two didn't want to admit it, but they were beginning to feel scared too…

_**Meanwhile**_…

On our way to rendezvous with Solar, we all discussed rescue plans… the best thing we could come up with was make an attempt to fire the retros on the ship by our own radio beams.

"Well… we could try and take the Arwings out there…" I suggested, "They can withstand the heat and radiation of Solar…"

"But Mykan… the transmitter-beams on the Arwings isn't strong enough." Erin said. "And even if we could it would drain our shields and protection against the heat. I think the Great-Fox's transmitter would be a much safer choice."

Donny disagreed with her there, as the Great-Fox's shields weren't tough enough to withstand the heat of a star. "We wouldn't be able to get close enough. I think Mykan's way in using the Arwings would prove much more effective."

A few other disagreements followed, "Let's face it…" Slippy finally said. "Both ideas have equal chance of success or failure. I say… how about we gamble on either one paying off."

Fox agreed we were going to launch a two-pronged mission. Fox, Krystal, I and Donny would take the Arwings, while Erin would stay onboard the ship with the others and try it that way.

With all that settled, the Arwings were launched, and the fate of the three solarnauts rested on our shoulders.

_**Meanwhile**_…

The refrigeration unit was at full-power, and the shields were still draining. "Just twenty-four hours to go." Mozart pointed out.

"To crash into a star…?!" cried Fuzzy. "It's like a nightmare…"

"Yeah… one I've had many times over." added Sora. "Why doesn't anyone help us?"

Just then, the radio began to receive a transmission. "Do you guys hear the radio...?" Sora asked. Mozart and Fuzzy leaned in closer. _"Come in Solar-Ship. This is the Star-Fox team…"_

The solarnauts could not have been happier than to hear that name.

…

"_Commander Mozart to Fox McCloud… where are you? Can you help us." _

"We hope so…" Fox answered, "We're going to try and fire your retros from space."

We were now too hours away from our calculated area. "Be careful when using your beams…" Krystal warned us, "Every second you use them you'll drain the heat-resistant shield around your ship."

"Copy-Cat…" Donny said, "How about we try and fire them now while we're still far away…?"

The rest of us agreed with the idea, "At least we'll know how short we are." I said, and with that, we fired all our safety-beams at once… the four beams joined together and began to slowly stretch out trying to hit the target. It got no closer than halfway across when it stopped. "Negative…" I said, "We're four hours short."

"Four hours…?" cried Donny. "But that means we'll to go much closer to Solar than was estimated."

"Sure looks that way…" Fox said, "Let's just hope our heat shields can hold out that distance."

…

The Great-Fox remained in free float where it was. It could go no closer or the radiation and heat of Solar would damage the ship. "Radio-beams nearly charged…" Erin said, "Target locking."

"Do you think we have a chance…?"

Peppy wasn't sure, "We won't know until we try." he said, "Get ready to fire…!"

"Firing beams now…" Slippy said, and the ship began to fire a very powerful safety-beam towards the Solar-Ship. The bad news was that it just wasn't powerful enough to get at it… "We'll have to try again…" Peppy said, "But this time we'll need to use more power."

Erin nodded, and began to recharge the systems. She also hoped that those of us in the Arwings were holding out fine…

"If I know Fox… he's been through worse." Falco said.

…

A few hours later, we in the Arwings tried our safety-beams again, but we were still another two hours before we were in range, and our heat shields were dropping slowly now. Still, we weren't willing to give up…

Especially seeing as how the Solar-Ship's outer hull was starting to melt and burn. Inside, the Solarnauts were beginning to lose consciousness. "I can't… stand the heat." Groaned Mozart, "It's… so… hot…!"

Fuzzy was sweating a lot because of his fur, "Are—are you sure you… can't get anymore out of the refrigeration unit?"

"No! Nothing's… working anymore." answered Mozart.

Sora was so tired she could barely speak, "Where's that team of ships?" she cried, "It's been over four hours since our last contact."

Fox, Krystal, Donny and I weren't too far behind, but we ourselves were starting to feel hot and sweaty. We had used the safety-beams so many times that "Our heat-shields can't take anymore." I groaned.

Donny wiped his brow, "Hey, let's try it again….!"

Fox agreed with us, "Did you get that Krystal?" he asked. "Krystal…? Krystal! Did you get that…?"

Krystal struggled to keep her eyes open, "Yes…" she cried. "Try the… signal again…!"

It was a mighty struggle but we all managed to activate our beams. They came close, closer, and closer… and they faded again. "GRR… They're still short!" Fox growled, "Isn't there anything we can do to increase the power…?"

"We can… over run the system to about point five." Krystal told us.

"All right… lets do that." I said, "We just can't go any closer!"

We activated more power, and fire the beams again. This time… we had contact, and the rockets on the other ship began to fire.

Sora, and Fuzzy were already passed out, and Mozart. He felt the ship quaking, "This is it…" he peeped, "The ship's breaking up. I figured I'd be dead before it happened. I guess it won't be long now…"

The ship was turning around, and the glare of the star began to dim out. Mozart suddenly began to feel it getting cooler. "Hey…! Why am I still alive? Why isn't the ship melting?" he wondered. "Say… that noise! It-- It's the rockets, they've fired!"

The ship finally broke out of orbit and was on its way to safety. "Sora…! Fuzzy! We're leaving Solar! We're going to live…"

…

Sad to say Tobor wasn't impressed, _"Ooh… that wretched Star-Fox team! They always have to mess everything up!"_ he growled, _"Well… this time will be the last. I may have lost the Solar-Ship… but I can still eliminate them. Ha, ha, ah, ah, ah…!"_ and he began to recharge his jamming-beams and fire them at our Arwings.

…

"Okay…" Donny said in barely more than a tone. "The ship's out of danger. Let's get out of here."

"Just in time I guess…" I said, "I can't stand much more of this heat."

We shut off our safety-beams and tried to fire the retros, but something wasn't going right. "Come on… fire you stupid things, it's GETTING UNBEARABLE !!" Fox growled.

We kept trying, "The retros!" cried Krystal. "They're not working!"

"Uh, guys…" cried Donny, "I hate to say this but… you're aware… THAT WE'RE STILL ON A COLLISON COURSE WITH THE STAR!"

…

Tobor was quite amused, and obviously aware that his pan was succeeding, _"And to make doubly sure they perish… I believe the Great-Fox will do for a multi-shot. Heh, heh, heh…"_

…

The beams were still being charged on the Great-Fox, when suddenly reports had come through that the Solar-ship was no out of danger. The others sighed a huge heave of relief… but then noticed that the Arwings were nowhere in sight. "I don't get it… where are they?" asked Falco.

"_Wait folks, here is more news…"_ the reporter said. _"This is disastrous. It can't be true! According to the tracking stations… the Arwings have not altered course, and a reported to be heading straight for Solar."_

Everyone gasped. "I don't get it… what happened?" cried Erin.

Peppy did some calculations, "Hey! Something's jamming their ship controls." he snapped. "We've got to un-jam them and fast before they burn-up."

They all got down tot heir controls, but suddenly they all went dead. "Now what?" snapped Falco.

Slippy wasn't sure, but he had a hunch, "Whatever jamming the Arwings must have just hit us as well." he said, "We don't have any control. What are we going to do…?"

The Arwings were still flying helplessly in their decaying orbit, and all four of us had finally passed out from the heat, and with no way to get ourselves out…!

"Mykan....! Donny…!" cried Erin. "There's got to be something we can do…"

But Peppy shook his head, "We could try and make repairs and upgrades, but that would take too long, and we don't have time."

This was too much to bare… all they could do was to sit and wait for us to die… until Slippy had an idea. "Hey, What about ROB?"

"ROB?" asked Erin, "Slippy this is no time to be worrying about your project." But Slippy insisted that his project was the point. He explained that one of the upgrades he had been trying perfect into ROB's systems was an ultra-jammer… "If I hook ROB up into the systems, maybe he can un-jam the controls and we can save the Arwings."

"Well don't just stand there… get him in here!" Falco practically yelled with excitement. Slippy dashed out and brought ROB back at once. "Well… here goes…" he said as he turned ROB on.

"Okay ROB…" Slippy said. "I need to calculate a special formula-code to help un-jam the systems."

"Now then ROB… What is the square-route to the power of 29 of the trigonometric amplitude of 87… divided by the quantitative hydraxis of 956 to the power of 77?"

ROB began to calculate the formula-code, but he sure was taking his precious time. "Come on, ROB! Come on…!"

Finally… ROB answered, _"45,979. Downloading now…"_

"It's working!" cried Erin. "Slippy, you did it!"

"Way to go, Slip!" added Falco.

…

The retros on the Arwings finally fired, and we moved away from Solar, and slowly regained consciousness. Much to Tobor's frustration, _"No! I won't them get away this time!"_ he growled, but when he tried to jam our equipment again, _"What's happening? My controls are not responding."_

Then suddenly a message appeared on his radar-screen. _"You can go tell Andross that you failed again this time, Tobor."_

"_Erin McClain."_

"_PS: Speaking of time… 5… 4… 3…"_

Tobor looked up and could see a shot of laser beams fired from the Great-Fox and coming right at him, _"AAAH… I'm Out of here!"_ and he vanished just in time as his machine was completely destroyed!

…

Andross was FURIOUS!

"_That bumbling fool!"_ he thundered, _"He's let the Star-Fox team and X-team beat us again!"_ and he vowed to get us someday… and no mistakes would be made.

…

Back on the Great-Fox… Fox, Krystal, Donny, and I were in the sick back. We all had caught terrible fevers from being that close to a star, and were being treated well. "How's your fever, bros?" Erin asked.

Donny and I removed the cloths from our heads, "Needs more cold…" Donny said.

Fox was just glad everyone made it, "I'm really proud of my team and teammates today." he said.

Krystal smiled at him, and Fox began to blush, but he denied it once again and said it was his fever.

"Sure it is, Fox…" Falco said and then shot him a wink.

Though Fox still didn't want to admit it… he was just relieved that anther mission was completed. _"Once again we're all safe, to fight you another day, Andross."_


	13. Wedding Bell Blunders

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Sometimes, hard-working mercenaries needed a well deserved period of rest and relaxation… even the very best above most like us. So General Pepper gave us all a well deserved holiday to Aquis, the water planet.

The great-Fox remained in orbit around the planet while most of us headed down to the surface where set up camp on a tropical island in the southern-part of the planet. The sun was shining, the weather was warm, and all the bear-necessities we could ever want.

Donny and I were water-skiing, while Falco was surfing on the waves. Meanwhile, the girls were sunbathing, and Fox was at the barbeque heating up the burgers and hotdogs. However… every now and then… he stopped to look up over the lid at Krystal.

To Fox she looked like an angel lying on the sand. It completely distracted him from his cooking and he almost barbequed his fur. He had been thinking about what I had told him a while ago… and maybe it would have been right to propose to her…

Sadly, Fox continued to chicken out on himself every time. Not only was he starting to feel convinced that he'd never get a chance with Krystal… he'd probably never be married ever… hey, not like he actually intended to be married…

Still… he just didn't what to do about it anymore.

His feelings however did not go unnoticed as when we all gathered for lunch, Donny, Erin and I noticed Fox wasn't eating much, and he even got up to take a small stroll around the island.

"He's at it again…" I whispered to my siblings.

"Poor, dude…" Donny said, "When's he going to wake up and go for it already?"

Erin simply sighed, and we all continued to eat our food, but Krystal noticed that we were all acting strange, and when she asked us if anything was wrong, we simply told her that what was wrong had nothing to do with us… but we just couldn't tell her.

Only Fox could… but we didn't tell her that either.

…

Fox stopped halfway around the other side of the island where we parked the Arwings and just sat their gazing out at the wide open seas. He just couldn't get Krystal off of his mind. He even began to see her face on the waves and in the clouds.

"_What am I doing?"_ he thought to himself. _"I can't just keep acting like this forever. I guess maybe Mykan's right… I have to try and do this."_

He was about to go back to the campsite, when suddenly he heard the sound of someone shrieking. "What the--"

He got out his blaster, and rushed in the direction of the scream, and he saw a two creatures. One was a giant sea-monster, and the other was a creature of likes which Fox had never seen before…

A humanoid shaped creature with pointed-eats, and a fish-tail for a lower body. She looked as though she was in real trouble, and Fox rushed into action. "Hey ugly…!" he called, "Why don't you pick on this…" and fired a few shots from his blaster, which hit the creature and caused it to turn its rage towards Fox.

It lunged right at him, and roared loudly…

"_Fox…!"_ called a voice. Fox turned and saw the rest of us rushing towards him. It didn't take us long to realize what was going on with that huge monster. Krystal and I whipped out our staffs, "Use the ice element… that'll scare it off." I said.

Both of us then began to blast the monsters with freezing winds, and indeed it was scared away as it like to be that cold on land. So it dove back into the water and out of sight. "So much for him…" Donny snapped.

Then we all turned our attention to help out the other creature, but Donny, Erin and I gasped. "Is-- is that what I think it is…?" asked Erin.

There was no doubt about it, we were gazing at a Mermaid. One who seemed to be tangled up in the kelp attached on the shore, making her an easy target for that monster…

Fox approached her gently trying to show he meant her no harm, and blasted the kelp apart with one shot. Then all of a sudden, the Mermaid began to SCREECH…, and the pitch of her voice was so supersonic, we all covered our ears.

"_AAAAH…!!"_

"_Somebody… kill the noise…!"_ cried Falco.

Then suddenly, FLASH… we all felt ourselves being knocked unconscious under the sound-waves. The Mermaid then called several of her friends to come help-us… and after putting us in protective-bags, they brought us into the water with them, and carried us away with them.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Peppy and Slippy were stuck aboard the ship... and that's just how they liked it!

Peppy reckoned he was a little too old or that kind of fun and games, and even Slippy never took time off from his mechanic duties, but sometimes he did wish that he could take some whole time off, and maybe even head down to the planet. "Ah well… someone has to watch the ship. Right Peppy…?"

"Peppy…?"

He turned and saw Peppy was fast asleep in his seat, Slippy snickered softly, "Poor old timer." Then he turned to gaze back down at the planet and wondered what the rest of us were up to now…

_What we were up to indeed_…!

…

At that very moment we were all coming too from our knock-outs, and we realized we had been brought to some underwater lair, but how and why we were able to breath, withstand the pressure was anyone's guess.

"This must be where they live…" Donny said.

"Right… I think we all could figure that out." Falco snapped, but then he was poked at from behind by a merman guard, with a spear, and he was given the look to be silent.

Then we all noticed that we were wearing strange-belts that were glowing, and as we tried to loosen them, two other guards motioned for us not to, which lead us to realize that the belts the were reason why we were able to survive…

Then, a loud fanfare was heard and a mermaid servant swam out from the large palace that lay before us. "Hey, that's the same Mermaid we saw on the beach." I whispered. The others agreed with me…

The Mermaid cleared her throat, "Announcing her royal majesty, _Marina_, queen of the Mer-folk."

The doors of the palace opened wide and out swam four mermen carrying out a huge clamshell, which opened wide revealing one of the prettiest creatures any of us had ever seen.

This Mermaid, Marina, had long blonde shiny hair. Skin as soft and almost white as snow… Even the scales on her tail sparkled with real diamonds and jewels. She wore a silver tiara round her forehead and a lily in her hair.

Donny and I almost felt like drooling, if we hadn't remembered that we were being held against our will.

Marina swam off of her clam-ride, and observed the six of us. "So… it was you all who attacked my servant on land." she practically snarled at us.

All of us looked confused, "Attacked…? Us…? Her…?" Fox stuttered "We didn't attack her. She was already being attacked."

The servant mermaid approached her Queen, "The Fox speaks the truth, your majesty." She said, "While on my mission, I was attacked by the great monster, _Serpent-Night._ This Fox and his comrades came to my aid."

Marina's features suddenly changed, but she was not convinced. "Very well then… if this Fox is as good as he says he is, perhaps he can prove himself by defeating our best guards." She snapped her fingers, one of the guards let Fox go, and four other super-muscular ones swam out to the grounds heavily armed.

"What? You expect me to fight these guys?" Fox asked, but he was soon shoved out towards the guards which answered his question. "Okay… so you do?"

Sadly Fox was stripped of his blaster, but one of the guards let him borrow his spear so as to make the fight fair. Fox kept calm and remember that he took out bigger baddies than the guards during his adventures on Sauria. Even though he was underwater and his feet not firmly on the ground, he remembered some of the training I had showed him from some of the games I had played; how to fight in a near weightless environment... He defeated the guards easily and forced them to yield.

Marina never knew anyone of such skills and speed, and she was getting a certain look in her eyes. "Enough… it is decided." she called.

Fox and the rest of us were confused. "What's decided?" Fox asked.

Marina blushed, and fluttered her eyes at him, "You Fox McCloud shall become my husband."

All of us gasped in shock at the same time, but Fox stayed exactly where he was, not moving an inch. "What… did… you… just… say?" he asked very slowly.

Marina giggled softly, "My decision is made." She said, "Bring him into the palace, and his comrades… through them in the dungeon until I decide what to do with them."

The rest of us tried to fight back this unnecessary treatment, but the guards advanced on us, not to mention the fact that our weapons couldn't function properly under-water anyway.

"No… Fox…!" Krystal called out to him.

"Krystal…!" Fox called back to her as we were hauled off to the dungeon, while Fox was brought into the palace, against his will. The guards wouldn't let him leave, as were the orders of the queen.

"Guards… you may leave us now. I wish to speak to my fiancée alone." Marina said, "Stand guard outside the doors."

The Guards bowed and swam outside. Fox gritted his teeth in anger, "Look, I don't know who you are, or what you have planed… but you got to be kidding if you think I'm just going to marry you just like that."

Marina fluttered her eyes and swam off from her throne, and circled around him several time, "I'm afraid my decision is final." she said, and she explained the entire story…

He servants were out there seeking a husband for her, but not just any husband… but one that possessed great courage, and strength; one that possessed many great skills that would lead their underwater race to victory over all those that opposed them… particularly _Serpent-Night._

"You Fox will be my husband. We shall be wed tomorrow."

"Forget it!" snapped Fox, "No way am I marrying a total stranger just because she wants it. Besides… uh… we're two different species." Nothing Fox said convinced Marina. She was sticking to her guns and ordered her guards to prepare Fox, and the rest of the court to prepare the ceremony.

"No!" Fox roared as he was being hauled away, "I mean it… I'm not going to marry you!"

Marina liked the way he was playing hard-to-get. It only made her attracted to him even more. She figured the sooner they were married the better.

_**Meanwhile**_…

The dungeon seemed pretty standard. Just iron-bars, a guard outside the door, and no extra-surprises… You'd think it would've been easy to break out of such a prison, but it wasn't…

Because we were afloat in water, and our feet not firmly planted on the ground we couldn't use enough force to even try to pries the bars loose. "It's no good…" I said feeling tired, "I can't see any way out of this one."

Donny felt exhausted as he let himself float gently onto the sand. "Whoever builds the bars in this dungeons must've hard a hard nerve." He panted, "A really hard nerve."

Erin was worried about us, but she caught our attention and said, "I don't think it's us we should be worrying about." she motioned over at Krystal who was in her own cell still desperately trying to knock down the bars.

"Uh… Krystal…?" Falco called at her, but she didn't respond, at least not to him directly. "I won't let her marry Fox… I WON'T…!"

Falco, who was in the same cell as she was, finally convinced her to take it easy. "Look, there's got to be a way out of here." But none of us had an idea, except for one…

The Arwings were by far the only thing that could work underwater, but, though our wrist-computers were able to work, when we tried to use our remote controls. "Just as I thought…" I said, "We're too far below the surface, the signal can't break through."

This also meant that we couldn't contact the Great-Fox either, and warn Peppy and Slippy. What bothered us most of all was what was Fox going through…?

_**Meanwhile**_…

In another tower of the palace, "Ow…!"

"Ouch…! Hey watch the needles!" Fox growled.

Marina had requested that Fox be given traditional wedding garments for those from the land. Just a small cape, sandals and a gladiators robe round his lower-half. Only his outfit needed a serious resizing.

"Ow! I said watch it!"

Finally after much struggle, and a number of needle-pricks, Fox was ready, and just in time for the Queen's royal inspection. Marina ordered her servants to let her have some time alone with Fox…

She swam heavenly towards Fox and circled him again, "Ooh… so handsome." she flirted, "I don't believe anyone in my family's generations have ever bagged a man so handsome before. Don't you think so my dear…?"

Fox stuck out his tongue rudely, "Ugh… I think I'm going to be sick." he moaned, and then he swam towards the ceiling. "Look… I've tried six times, but I'll try it again… I… am… not… going… to… MARRY YOU! I don't even like you."

Marina giggled, "Oh, but you will… once you kiss me, that is. Then the engagement will be official."

Fox gasped and then did all he could to swim away from the crazed mermaid Queen, "Come on… you know you want to."

"No… hey… you stay away from me!" Fox cried, and Marina continued to chase him around the room for a long time before she finally gave up and night-time was falling.

…

The rest of us were still locked in the dungeon, and Krystal was gazing out through the bars on the window, and out at the mighty ocean. Her mind was racing a-thousand miles, completely fixed on Fox and how she couldn't believe he was going to be forced to marry someone in a short while.

Deep down… she always hoped that someone would be her. Of course it was obvious enough to everyone at the start that she had a thing for Fox... but now she knew what her heart wanted; to be with Fox… no matter what the road of life promised.

What good was it now? We couldn't break out of the prison-cells, nor call the Great-Fox to even try to help him. Suddenly… she had an idea, "Of course… why didn't I think of it before?"

The rest of us stared at her, "Krystal…?" Erin said.

Krystal explained how they had one chance left to try and contact the Great-Fox. "But, how…? Our communicator lines are dead." Falco said.

Krystal was well aware of that, but there one final hope that would help… _her telepathy._

The rest of us realized that it would possibly work. If Krystal could send a telepathic message to the Great-Fox and hope that Peppy or Slippy would be able to hear her thoughts maybe they could help.

"You do realize what a chance you're taking?" I asked. I pointed out that we were still far below hundreds of feet of water, and it would slow the message waves down. Even so… what's to say it would reach the ship anyway?

"Well I can try…" Krystal said as she made herself comfortable on the sand. "I'll try all night if I have to. I don't care what it takes. I won't let that awful creature marry Fox!"

She positioned herself in a meditative pose, shut her eyes, and concentrated. We all hoped she would be able to get through, but seeing as how there wasn't much for us to do to help her, we all decided to try and get some sleep. This way Krystal could have the silence she needed to focus, and we could rested up for the upcoming battles we knew were to come.

…

Fox was also finding it difficult to sleep in his bedroom. Even though the accommodations were nice and cozy, he was really disgusted by how he was going to be forced down the aisle the next day, to someone he had no feelings for… not to mention crazy and psychotic.

Sadly, there was no way to escape from his bedroom as there were guards outside the door, and even though he would have been able to swim out through the windows, there were guards around every corner, making it virtually impossible to do anything.

"Krystal…" he whispered to himself. "I'm so sorry… but it looks like you and I just won't be after all."

…

The night passed by slowly and onboard the Great-Fox, and by a few hours before dawn, Peppy and Slippy were still asleep, when suddenly Slippy's began to hear a voice crying out, _"Xocf mo…! Xocf mo…!"_

Slippy moaned slightly and then rolled back over, but the voice didn't go away, _"Xocf mo…! Xocf mo…!"_

"Huh? What…?" Slippy yawned. "Who'd be calling in at this time of night…?" he asked himself as he got up and felt around the counter. "Where's my communicator? Oh wait here it is…"

Then suddenly he burned his hand, "AAH…! That's my hot-glue gun! AYE!" he blew on his hand cooling it off and finally found the light-switch. Now that he was finally awake, he realized what was going on… "Krystal…? Is that you?"

Krystal was relieved that she reached Slippy, but she was only able to speak in Saurian through her telepathy, luckily Slippy was able to use his communicator to translate what she was saying…

Once the details were all given, Slippy woke Peppy up, and as much as Peppy would rather sleep like the old timer he was… he never backed down when it came to emergencies.

They had to move fast, for dawn was slowly approaching on the part of Aquis we were on, which meant the wedding wasn't too far away either. Slippy had also heard of the mer-folk we were with…

Their Queen was the most beautiful creature in the whole Lylat system, but once people got to know her, and see that she really wasn't all that fun… it was no wonder why most creatures steered clear of her. She really was _that _annoying.

"What she doesn't know is… I know a few under-water races..." Slippy snickered cheekily. "I know for a fact that they'll be glad to help out."

Slippy equipped himself with underwater weapons, and hopped into his Arwing, "Be careful Slippy." Peppy warned him, "You do know that some of the creatures will be out looking for breakfast…"

"Don't worry about me, Peppy. I know what I'm doing… I am a toad after all." Slippy said before he launched.

"Heh…! You may be a toad… but are you as slippery as one…?" Peppy wondered.

…

Daybreak had arrived and the morning sunlight shone through the water lighting things up. Many of the mer-folk in the palace were already wide awake and preparing for the ceremony that would occur at mid-morning… but the rest of us were asleep in the dungeon… even Krystal had fallen asleep from using her powers a lot.

Then suddenly, we were all awakened by the sound of someone tapping on the bars, "Slippy…?" I asked sounding Slippy.

"Shh… quiet… I'm busting you guys out of here." he whispered.

Since Slippy was a toad, he could survive in the water without much support, and he brought along his under-water laser that cut through the window-bars and allowed us to escape.

"But what about Fox…?" Krystal asked. "We have to go get him."

Slippy talked her out of it as there was no way we could with all the guards around, "Don't worry… I got a plan." Slippy said, "Guys… today we're going to crash that wedding."

…

A few hours later, it was nearly time for the ceremony…!

The castle-courtyard was all decorated, and the guests and palace-hands were starting to fill the seats. As for Marina, she was in her royal bed-chamber adding the finish touches…

She wore her long hair loose as always. Only a long shred of tulle was attached to her tiara, and her scales were shiner than ever. She fixed her face up nicely too. "Am I ugly…?" she asked while staring at her reflection, "Of course I'm not… Hmm-mm…!"

She couldn't wait to marry Fox and have him join the race to lead them to their ultimate victory over all other creatures, and maybe even far more than met the eyes.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, "Enter!"

The guards had brought Fox in for the Queen's inspection before the wedding. Marina giggled, and blew Fox a kiss. Fox just grunted, "I never knew how unlucky it is to see the bride before the wedding… now I know!"

Marina giggled and fluttered her eyes again, "Take him to the courtyard and prepare for the ceremony."

The guards bowed. Fox continued to struggle in their arms as they carried him off, "Let me go! I'm not going through with this!" but the guards never let him go. In fact, once Fox was placed in his popper position, two guards stood by to make her sure he wouldn't escape.

As the final preparations continued, no one noticed that the rest of us were swimming near secret hiding places around the courtyard. "Okay guys. Wait for the signal." Slippy warned us, "And until then… don't make a move."

Easier said that done, as Krystal was barely able to contain herself from wanting to rush in there and show that queen a thing or two for trying to move on Fox.

Soon the music started, and the royal head-man announced the arrival of the bride. Marina was carried down the aisle by her four guards carrying her transport clam. Fox was shivering more than ever… and once Marina reached him… "Hey…" she flirted and pursed her lips playfully.

Fox shut his eyes and muttered softly trying to convince himself, "This is not happening! This is not happening!"

The head-man began by welcoming everyone to the queen's wedding, and went over the laws of marriage. "Where the man commits to the woman… Where he honors her… Cooks for her… Answers her every need…"

Fox began to think he was doomed. Until came the question… "If there is any reason why these two must not be joined, speak now, or forever keep in silence…"

"_WE DO…!"_ called a voice.

The crowd gasped and then one by one saw each of us leap out from our secret hiding places. We also had fire arms that worked under water, "All right… throw down your weapons!" Donny yelled at the guards.

The guards did as they were told, even the ones near Fox. "Krystal…!"

"Fox…!" Krystal cried. They swam towards each other and collided in a huge hug.

"What's the meaning of this?" snarled Marina. "How did you all escape… and what businesses have you running my wedding?"

Slippy sneered at the mermaid queen, "THIS…!" and he fired his blaster up high which gave the signal for the races he knew and had gathered to rush in.

Races of toads… fish… even Serpent-Night was there. Fox nearly floated backwards in fear, "No, no… it's all right Fox." Erin told him, "He's on our side."

Fox was confused, but he soon began to understand once Slippy had told him about Marina and her race of _thieving mer-folk._ They were the most sinister criminal race in all the underwater worlds. They robbed from other races attempting to prove how superior they were over all others.

When we were on land, Serpent-Night was attacking the mermaid servant because he knew she was up to no good. Now he was back, and so were many of the other races to take back their stolen goods.

Marina wasn't willing to go down without a fight though, and she began to SCREECH; Slippy had told us that was her race's special ability, the sonic-screech. It was powerful enough to even knock out the strongest of foes.

Fox fell unconscious at once, and so did most of the other races, but the rest of us, and Serpent-Night were fully unaffected. "Foolish creature…!" Serpent-Night growled deeply, "You should know that your Sonic-Screech in ineffective against me and my kind."

And Slippy explained that the rest of us were wearing special earplugs he had brought. "As long as we have these, we can't fall to your tricks."

"It's the end of the line for you fish-face!" snarled Falco. "You going to go quietly, or do we get tough?"

Marina knew she was hooked, and lined, so she decided to sink into defeat.

_**Later on**_…

It took a little while for the underwater races to recover from their knockouts, but they promised to deal with Marina and her kind so they would no longer cause anymore trouble. So we all returned to the surface to resume our holiday.

"Star Fox. X-Team…We of the underwater races are most grateful to you all…" Serpent-Night said to us. "You have freed us from the wrath of the mermaids, and our way of life will regain its prosperity. How can we ever repay you?"

We told him to never mind. "It's all in the days work…" I joked, "Though we're supposed to be on vacation."

Serpent-Night understood, and informed us that if we would ever need help in the battles we had yet to face, "The underwater races will there to aid you." Then he was gone, back below the water.

Now that he was gone, we could finally get back to relaxing, only, "Hey guys…!" Slippy called. "Check this out." We all gathered round, and saw Fox and Krystal sitting alone together, and Fox seemed to be telling her something important.

"Hey… you think this is it?" Donny asked.

…

Fox wanted thank Krystal again for bailing him out of that jam down there, "If it wasn't for you guys, I'd pretty much be stuck in a shameful marriage for the rest of my life."

"Oh… uh… well... it was the least we could do." Krystal said sounding slightly nervous. "I wasn't about to stand there and let her marry you just like that."

"But Krystal…" Fox replied, "I have to tell you something important."

He paused…

"To me… marriage always means that I'll have to be there for someone. Someone like you… it's just that, you're not like other females I've met. You've gotten used to the dangers the Star-Fox teams have faced… but you also realize… I'm not sure I can love you as a normal creature."

The rest of us gasped when we heard that, it was as if he was saying they were just going to be friends. "That idiot… he's not going to get away with this!" Erin grumbled.

Krystal felt like her heart breaking, and her tears were starting to fall. "Oh? Really…?" she said trying not to cry, "Well… I knew that. It's just that… even after all that we've been through… it isn't as if I believe you could ever settle down and learn to see me as something else."

She got up and tried to leave, but Fox held her tail stopping her, "I'm not finished…" he said. "Look… I don't know how else to say this, so I'll just be blunt."

"Krystal… if this war with Andross' forces should ever come to an end, and peace should return to the Lylat-System…" he paused and then said, "If we make it that far and we survive… will you come and stay with me."

Krystal gasped, and her heart beat like crazy as her tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"I love you Krystal. I'm not ashamed to admit it anymore. So I'm asking… will you be my wife one day?"

The rest of us couldn't believe it, he finally popped the question, "Come on Krystal… say it!" Erin grunted under her breath.

Krystal collapsed her knees and sobbed into her hands. "Yes…!" she answered.

"Krystal? You will?" Fox asked her.

Krystal finally turned round to face him and they held hands as their eyes met. "Yes… I will." She answered with a smile on her tearful face. "Oh, Fox McCloud… I thought you'd never ask Me." and she threw her arms around him causing their lips to meet for the very first time…

Much to all of our approval… "Well… it's about time." Falco said.

The rest of us went back to camp laving Fox and Krystal to sit with her head resting his shoulder as they watched the sun go down.


	14. Fight to the Finish!

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

Andross' power container was still slowly rising. Soon it would be full enough for him to achieve… _whatever it was he was planning to do._ For now, he was speaking with General Tobor. _"We are very pleased for your loyal and faithful services…"_ he said to him. _"But you have also made several mistakes."_

Tobor growled angrily, and steam shot through his head.

"_And further more, you have not been successful in ridding us of the Star-fox team nor the X-team. This disturbs me greatly Tobor…!"_

Tobor tried to explain in his defense, but Andross was not interested. _"This is your last chance, Tobor!"_ he growled, _"I want those two teams out of the way finally and forever. If you fail me… then as punishment I will take away your energy force, and obliterate you myself."_

Many of the other robot minions began to cry out their pity and horrified feelings for poor Tobor, who was growling in anger at the very thought of what Andross would do. There was defiantly no room for mistakes this time…!

_**Meanwhile**_…

It was a beautiful night on Corneria…

The stars were shining like diamonds. It was a shame though that the planet didn't have a moon like Earth did, but at least the planets close by were just a s sweet, and they looked like very bright stars.

Fox and Krystal were out celebrating their new engagement. Already everyone at base had heard about it, and even General Pepper was delighted that it was happening, but as Fox had once pointed out… it would be much safer to wait until Andross was put out of action before they actually decided to tie the not.

Still… that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy themselves now and then. Fox took her out to many nice places; Dinner… movies… dancing… he even got her a single beautiful flower that looked just beautiful in her hair.

They even took a stroll by the pond near the woods where we camped out last time. "Oh, Fox… what a beautiful night." she sighed heavenly as she snuggled into Fox's gentle arms. "I wish it would never end."

Fox held her close, "I know what you mean." he said to her, "It just makes me more than determined to finish Andross off for good so that maybe we can finally have a chance for peace. Then maybe you and I can take life easy for a while."

Krystal knew she would like that. She looked up into Fox's eyes, and he looked down at hers. Their faces began to slowly move towards each others and their eyes began to close. Their lips were just centimeters away… when suddenly…!

"_Heh, heh, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah…!"_ a sinister laugh echoed through the skies. Fox and Krystal gazed up and saw a large holographic image appear. "It's Tobor…" cried Krystal.

The hair on Fox's neck stood up in anger, "What's that bucket of bolts want now?"

"_Attention Star-Fox team. Attention X-Team… I have come to challenge you to a duel."_ Tobor explained. _"Meet me at the main wreckage-sites in Sector-Z. Three nights from tonight… Otherwise…"_

His eye began to glow brightly and soon, poof, all the cities and sectors in Corneria were a blaze. Krystal shielded her eyes from the horror. "Hey! Knock it off you tin-can!" Fox yelled up at the image.

Tobor snapped his metal fingers, and everything was back to normal again. _"Hah! That was only a holographic illusion… but if you don't show up, I'll burn the planet to ashes. This time FOR REAL…!"_ then he was gone… leaving Fox and Krystal confused and shocked.

…

They immediately rushed back to base where General Pepper was briefing all of us about what we all had just seen and heard. "The way I see it, there's no choice…" I said. "Tobor said he'd burn up Corneria as promised. We have to answer to his challenge."

"Yes… you're right Mykan." Pepper said. "It's our only hope of sparing Corneria, and putting Tobor out of action for good."

Everyone agreed, and the very next morning, the Great-Fox was launched, and well on its way to Sector-Z. My team and I did as much studying on the sector as we could so it would be easier to determine our battle strategy.

According to what we studied, and what Fox and his team told us, Sector-Z was just a basic junkyard in space, but nothing at all like Sector-X. Sector-Z actually was strewn with the wreckages of large battleships and space-fortresses; many of which were still dangerously unstable, and could explode like missiles…

"It's no wonder Tobor chose this place for the battle." Erin said, "It's got pretty much the perfect environment and obstacles to give him all the advantages he needs."

"Question is…" Donny cut in, "How do we use the place to our advantage? We don't even know what he's got planned for us."

"We'll find out once we get there." Peppy said, "In the meantime… I suggest you guys get some rest. You're going to need all your strength and wits at full for the battle in a few days."

"I'm up for that…" Falco said as he stretched his arms and yawned.

"You know that's what I find fascinating about being in space. There's no day or night." Krystal said, "That means we can go to bed and get up whenever we feel like it."

I chuckled, "We sure could've used that tradition on Earth. Boy, how we used to hate having to go to bed at night."

We all shared a good laugh before heading off to our own respective cabins, while Slippy and Peppy remained on watch.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Tobor himself was on his way to Sector-Z and had parked his fighter-ship near a whole site of floating wreckages. _"Hmm… yes." _He sniggered to himself,_ "All this wreckage shall serve me well in my plan to wipe out Star-Fox and the X-team."_

With the flick of a switch, he activated his ships magnetic beams to capture the bits and pieces of debris he would need and shape them all into _strong and powerful objects. "Heh, heh, heh… I am so ready."_

_**Three days later**_…

"There it is…" Fox pointed out. "The one and only…Sector-Z."

Well stepped up to the view-port to get a good look at the area in the distance. "Man… that is one scary looking nebula." Donny said.

"Well you better get brave and fast, because that's just where we're heading into." Falco said.

Peppy and Slippy decided to keep the Great-Fox at a safe distance away from the nebula. "No point in risking the entire ship at once, but we'll keep in open contact with you guys if you need our help."

"We'll keep that in mind." Fox said. "All right… let's go!" and we all followed him to the launch bay where we fired up the Arwings and headed for the sector. "Good luck you guys." Slippy wished us, "I hope you won't need it."

…

Within the clouds of the nebula, Tobor could see the Arwings coming, _"Ha, ha, ha… right on time."_ He chuckled sinisterly. _"Time to for the party to commence…"_ and he began to activate some of his controls.

…

"Anybody see anything yet?" Fox asked.

"Of I see lots of things. Storm-clouds, loads of wreckage, some stars… you?" Falco joked.

"Falco…!" Krystal snapped. "Can't you ever take things seriously?"

"I can so… I just don't feel like it." Falco answered.

"Hey, you-two, knock it off!" I snapped. "We're supposed to be concentrating on finding Tobor, not how to annoy each other."

"Oh… uh… I think we should be worrying about something else right now…" Erin said. "THOSE…!"

We all looked round, and saw a swarm of iron-pillars racing straight for us. "Look out!" cried Donny as we all began to swerve, dive, and roll… anything to get our ships out of the way. "Oh, boy… they're everywhere!" cried Falco.

It seemed that no matter how many of them we dodged, there was plenty of more coming at us where the last ones came from. "Wait a minute…" I said, and I fired my lasers and destroyed two of the pillars that were coming at me. "Guys…! Their weak… shoot them down!"

The others realized I was right and all began to fire their lasers at the rest of the pillars. In almost no time, they were all gone. "Great thinking Mykan…" Fox called at me.

"Dude… you rock." added Donny.

The mood was suddenly cut short by the sound of a sinister laughter… We all gazed round and saw him in his own fighter. "Tobor…!"

"_Hmm, mm, mm…! The and only…"_ Tobor sniggered, _"Welcome Star-Fox. Welcome X-Team. Now I have you all right where I want you."_

This was it. There was no turning back now.

"_It's a shame you're all so young, and you've hardly had a chance to enjoy the meaning and purposes of mortal lives. Now it will all end..."_

"Yeah, well keep dreaming. Bolt-Boy…!" Erin snapped at him. "If you think we're going to just let some over grown robot kick us around, you're wrong."

"You and Andross only use your power and tricks for evil…" added Donny. "The way I see it… You're both going down."

The rest of us nodded in agreement, but Tobor was losing his patience. _"Enough chattering mortals… it's time for battle."_

He flew his ship up and over ways, and launched two strange beams out into the distance. "What's he doing…?" Krystal wondered.

Suddenly, we saw it! A huge missile, constructed from several tones of wreckage, and filled with nuclear energy. "Ahh…! Ahh…! AAH…!" cried Krystal.

"Look at the size of that thing!" added Donny.

"Let's get out of here!" I cried, and we all began to steer our ships away from the huge bomb, but just as it looked as though we were escaping from it. "Here comes another one!" called Erin.

The two missiles were closing in on our six ships that were all stuck in place. "Maybe we should try and blast those things down?" Falco suggested.

"No, Falco…!" Fox cautioned him, "We don't know how much damage those things can do. We might kill ourselves anyway."

"Let's split up." I suggested, "They can't follow us all at once."

"But wait… we can't just split up…" Krystal said. "We need to come up with a strategy."

"Oh right, here's a good strategy… staying in once place and be an easier target!" snapped Donny. Our two teams slip up at once each with one of the two missiles on our tails. They were moving surprisingly fast for objects so big and heavy, and they also proved to be very difficult to dodge and avoid.

"They're getting closer!" cried Erin.

"Try to go faster!" Fox warned us.

"I don't think it's going to be fast enough!" Donny cried.

The missiles kept closing in, getting closer, and closer still. Tobor was by himself with laughter. _"Ha, ha, ah, ah, ah… too bad team-twerps."_ He chuckled, but then suddenly something shot at his ship from behind, _"Huh? Blah…!"_

The impact forced him to lose control over his missiles, and they just stopped exactly where they were. "Hey, what gives?" snorted Falco.

"What's going on out there...?" I added.

Just then, everyone including Tobor heard a familiar voice over the radio. _"Still picking on creatures weaker than you are, Tobor?"_

Tobor turned his ship round and could see the Great-Fox through the clouds of the Nebula. _"How nice to see you Peppy Hare… Slippy Toad…! You both can share the same fate they're going to suffer."_

"Hah! Fat chance of that, Tobor…" Slippy said. "If you want us, come and get us."

The rest of us couldn't believe that Peppy and Slippy just offered Tobor a chance to destroy them, and the ship. Tobor took the invite and steered clear out of the Nebula clouds heading straight for the Great-Fox. _"GRAAH…!"_

The two ships began to fly round in circles almost like knights facing off in a ring waiting to make the first move. Then… without warning Tobor fired his lasers… POW! Right through the middle of the ship!

"PEPPY… SLIPPY…!" cried Fox, and the rest of us gasped in shock as the whole ship exploded in great ball of fire. "No! They can't be gone!" cried Krystal as a tear leaked from her eye.

"_Heh, heh, AH, AH, AH, HEH, HEH, AH, AH, AH…!"_

We all steered our Arwings outside the clouds. "Tobor… WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM?!" I shouted as we all gazed upon the wreckage of our beautiful mother-ship.

"_HU, HU, HU, AH, AH, AH, AH…! That's all that's left of them."_ Tobor snapped at us evilly. _"You're pathetic mortal friends didn't stand a chance against me, and now it's your turn. If you really think you all can defeat me now with no mother-ship-- HA, HA, HA, AH, AH, AH…!"_

Fire was flaring in everyone's eyes, and anger was boiling in our blood. "Tobor…!" Fox sneered with his body shaking, "I swear… if it's the last thing I do… I'll destroy you… and Andross and any and all likeness you've created!"

All of us joined in with our own rants to take Tobor Down, and we all ended up shouting together, _"DOWN WITH ANDROSS, AND ALL OF HIS EVIL…!"_

Not only was Tobor not taken by this at all, _"Humph! So much babbling and speech, BEHOLD MY POWER… HAH!"_ and he triggered his gravity beams to get the missiles going again.

"Look out!" cried Erin as POW, the rockets crashed through the clouds, and soon we were all on the run again. "Dude… I think this about where we came in!" cried Donny.

"Man, this is crazy!" growled Falco, "How the heck can we stop those things?"

Then suddenly Krystal had an idea, "That's it…!" she said.

"What's it?" Falco asked.

Krystal explained all this time we were concentrating on the missiles, when we really should be concentrating on the source of the missiles… Tobor! Then we all realized Krystal was right, "It's Tobor we must defeat!" I said.

We also realized that were no longer within the nebula's clouds, which meant we probably would have a chance. "Right… here's what we do…" Fox instructed, "Mykan, Donny, Erin, and Falco… you guys distract the missiles and make them follow you into empty space. Krystal and I will deal with Tobor. If this works… we might be able to turn the tables."

Though outraged by Fox's crazy idea of sending us to risk out lives, we went along with the plan. Falco and I dealt with the first missile, while Donny and Erin got the other one. We steered out into empty space with the missiles closing in from behind. "I hope Fox knows what he's doing." I said.

"Are you kidding…?" snapped Falco, "He'll be lucky if I don't kill myself if we survive this!"

As for Krystal, with an open shot, she fired one of her new equipped gas-bombs near Tobor's ship producing a huge cloud of dust and mist. _"Huh?" _Tobor growled, _"This fog…! I can't see a thing."_

"Over here, Tobor…" Fox called.

Tobor still couldn't see well through his view-port, but could still use his tracker-radar. _"Easy pickings…! HAH!"_ and he fired his blasters at Fox scaring him off._ "Heh, heh, ah, ah, ah…!"_

Too bad Tobor was all caught up in being cocky that he didn't notice Krystal was right behind him. _"Please… let this work."_ she said to herself… and then she fired another torpedo from her Arwing that exploded and something small and magnetic latched onto Tobor's ship. _"What was that?"_ he growled as his ship began to power down and some controls began to malfunction. _"What's… happening…?"_

Suddenly, the missiles stopped chasing after us, "Look…" cried Donny.

"They're going the other way…" added Erin.

Indeed they were. They were heading straight towards Tobor's ship_. "No! This cannot be!"_ growled Tobor as he sped his ship away, _"Why are they coming after me?"_

"_Huh…?"_

He parked his ship towards the area where the fog was beginning to break up, and the six Arwings were all gathered in one place ready to take him out. "You underestimated us, Tobor." Fox sneered.

"_Tell me…!"_ cried Tobor. _"Tell me how you did this to me?"_

"That's easy… because our smarts and intellect are far greater than anything you could ever be programmed with." I said.

"That's right, Tobor… you're caught in your own trap." added Krystal.

The rest of the teammates added their own comments, and then it was time. "Prepare lasers…" Fox said, "Ready… aim… FIRE…!"

All our ships lasers fired at once, and Tobor was barley able to dodge them. _"WHOA…!"_ then suddenly it began to get dark and his ship was starting to quake, "Huh?" he looked round and saw the missiles were just milliseconds behind him, _"…AAAAHHH…!!"_

We all just barely boosted away in time as the missiles collided into Tobor's ship and blew it up in a great ball of fire.

…

Andross' eyes glared red with anger as Tobor, looking badly beaten up, and parts of him were dilapidated, popped in out of thin air. _"Ugh… master… please I beg of you to have mercy."_

"_You have failed to destroy Star-Fix and the X-team, Tobor."_ Andross spoke in no more than a tone, and it was in vain that Tobor explained to him that he managed to destroy at least the Great-Fox, _"I will hear no excuses! PREPARE TO TAKE THE CONSEQUENCES…!"_

He stretched open his hands which began to glow with energy, _"Master Andross… Wait…!" _

KAPOW! _"D-ARGH! AAA-AAAAAAAAAAHHH…!"_

Tobor was gone, blasted into dust by Andross' power, and the lasts of his energy was transferred into Andross energy orb which greatly increased the levels. _"Let Tobor's fate be a warning to all of you!"_ Andross warned his other minions. _"Congratulations Star-Fox. X-Team… you have won nothing!"_

_**Meanwhile**_…

We all just remained in free-float all sobbing or upset about the fact that the cost of victory was the Great-Fox, with Peppy and Slippy. "I can't believe they're gone." sobbed Krystal.

Fox had never clenched his fists so hard before, "Peppy… Slippy…!" he cried under his breath. "Why'd you guys have to go and do something so stupid?"

The rest of us felt way down in the dumps too, but then suddenly… "Look…!" I cried. "There… in the distance… it's--!"

It was… it was the Great-Fox… it was never destroyed at all. We all just couldn't stop crying for joy, and we docked aboard. Peppy and Slippy told us that what Tobor destroyed was a holographic illusion of the ship Slippy had projected from far, and only made it look like it was destroyed. "This helped to deceive Tobor and make him overconfident."

We all didn't know what to say, but Falco sure had a few words to say to Peppy and Slippy. "A few personal words!" he said while pounding his fists. Peppy and Slippy smiled weakly, but then were running for their skins from and angry Falco…

"Just you two wait until I get my hands on you!"

"Help…!"

"He's gone mad!"

The rest of us decided to let Falco have his fun… after all, we all nearly had the nerve to do the same thing. Still… we knew that Tobor would never bother us again, but with Andross still out there… and knowing he was madder than ever… who knew what diabolical traps he would lay for us in the battles to come?


	15. Time Troubles: Part one

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

"After them… Go!" ordered Fox as we all chased a swarm of Andross' crafts across space. "Why can't they even do this the easy way?" I complained.

We were barley able to shoot down even a few of the ships, as they just seemed to be zooming faster and faster away from us. "You're not crawling away form us!" Falco roared.

"Come back here…!" thundered Erin

Our six Arwings, with the Great-Fox bringing up the rear, we continued to chase the enemy fleet onward. "Hey, guys… take it easy." Slippy called. "Don't go so fast… we can barely keep up with you guys."

Neither of us slowed down at all as we were much too focused on catching those enemies. Suddenly, we could see a green field of sparkling gases up ahead. "There they go…" Donny called, "Let's get them!"

"Guys… wait!" cried Peppy. "We don't what that cloud-thing is!"

"_Warning…! Warning…!" _cried ROB _"Sensors detect high efficiency of wave-motion within the field ahead of us. Advise all Arwings to return to the ship immediately."_

"Fox…?" Peppy called into the radio.

"We heard that Peppy, and we're heading back now." Fox answered.

"_Aw, man… just when things were starting to get interesting."_ some of us complained, but regardless we returned to the ship as ordered.

Once safely aboard we all dashed to the bridge, but it wasn't easy as the ship was beginning to tumble and rock about hard. "What's going on?" Fox asked.

Peppy and Slippy had already located the problem. "We've been chasing those enemy ships for so long... the thrusters are malfunctioning." Peppy said, "We're still gaining speed."

He was right…

The ship was already going faster and faster, right into the danger levels, and we were still heading towards the green-field ahead of us. "The controls aren't responding!" cried Slippy.

"Try the emergency override…!" I said.

"It's no use…" cried Krystal, "They're going haywire."

ROB then began to flail his arms madly, _"Warning…! Warning…! Speed-indicators determine we were approaching the speed of light."_

"Everybody, hang on tight!" cried Fox.

SWOOSH… we flew right through the green-field right along with the fleet of enemy ships. They began to break up and explode within the field's energy, but the Great-Fox was rocking about and tumbling like a washing-machine with all of us tumbling about and screaming inside.

Some of the control-units began to short out and blow sparks everywhere. POW!

"Whoa…! HIT THE CIRCUIT-BREAKER!!" I shouted. Falco rushed over and powered down the systems to cease the sparking, but the ship was still out of control, and the steering-equipment needed to be fixed and fast before we would begin to break-up.

Fox, Slippy and Donny already opened the hatch to the wire-circuits, "Quick, get me a chopper-cable!" he shouted as he got on his work-gloves. Even with all the tumbling and shaking, they managed to get the wires hooked up, "Erin… change systems!" cried Slippy.

"Right!" and Erin pulled on the steering controls which leveled the ship off as we emerged from the green-field. "It's okay now… we're going to be alright." replied Erin.

All of us sighed in heavy relief…

…

However, General Pepper had lost contact with us entirely. "Great-Fox, come in!" he called again, "Fox… are you there…?"

…

Not only that, but Andross had lost the signal form his own fleet. _"This is intolerable."_ he growled. _"They were supposed to have returned and brought me back more energy."_

_**Meanwhile**_…

Realizing that we were no longer in the Lylat-System… we tried once again to contact Corneria, but it just didn't work. "I don't understand it…" Peppy said, "The Radio's in perfect working condition."

"Maybe we're just too far away for the signal to get anywhere…" Slippy suggested.

"_Affirmative…"_ ROB said, _"Now that we are free from the stress… I have been able o compute that we have been thrown approximately four-thousand light-years from our system. Location, unknown…"_

Falco sighed, "Well so much for him being of any help."

"Four-thousand light-years…?" cried Krystal "That's so incredibly far."

"Yeah… but to where?" asked Erin.

Suddenly the others all noticed Donny and I were staring at the view-port gazing out into space. "Could it… could it be…?" I asked.

"It sure looks that way…" added Donny.

"What's the matter, guys…?" Erin asked as she came over to join us. "Just take a look down there…!" I told her.

Erin looked out and saw a familiar looking planet… one which was all so familiar to us. _"Earth…!"_ we all said in awe together.

The Star-Fox team did many scans on the planet we were approaching. "You guy's sure that's your home planet?" Falco asked. "It doesn't look like much to me."

We all shot him a straight look, and he kept his beak shut.

Donny, Erin, and I didn't know what to feel anymore. After a year we finally found our home again, but did this mean we'd be leaving the Star-Fox team… after all that we've been through… not to mention Andross was still out there…?

"Well… we could go down there and explain." Fox said, "Maybe people would understand why you've been gone."

Fox had a point, and besides… it was mankind's fondest wish to meet peaceful life forms from other worlds… and it would be nice to show them a little of our world. "I say we go for it…" Erin said.

Donny and I agreed, and we immediately set course. It wasn't long before the Great-Fox itself actually landed on the dark side of Earth where it would soon be dawn. _We decided it would be best that way, instead of using the Arwings._

The ramp was lowered allowing us to depart the ship. "Dude… you smell that…?" Donny asked.

We all took a huge whiff of the fresh air. We could smell, "Pine trees…"

"Apple fields…"

"Even a saw-mill..."

There was no doubt about it… we had finally come home. Yet, something didn't feel quite right though. There were hardly any lights lit in town, and we could really see anything of our modern technology.

"What date do you think it is…?" Erin asked.

"Well… if I checked my Earth calendar right…" I said, "I'd say that this is probably March 21st, in the Earth year _2051. _I think this could be a weekend."

Just then, Fox called in on the communicators, _"Hey you guys, is it safe for us to come out yet?"_ he asked us for what had to be the third time.

"We told you Fox… you guys should stay on the ship until we find someone and make it clear of what's going on." Donny told him. "Just be patient." and we closed him off.

Then we decided to split up and look around; check out where we were. Strangely, there was no one around. That was slightly to be expected for as I had mentioned _"This could be a weekend."_

"Hey… what's that?" Erin wondered as she peeked through what was in fact an office window, in the saw-mill we were exploring. "Is this supposed to be an office…?"

Everything looked so strange…

All the documents were on paper, instead of electronic-notepads.

There was an old-fashioned type-writer instead of one of those instant speech writers.

As for the telephone… not only was it not a video-phone, but it was tall, and black. Sort of like phones we only studied about in history class. "The line's dead… The lights don't work either."

She carried on with her exploration…

…

Donny and I were walked past the piles of freshly cut lumber. "Hello…!" I called. "Hello…!" It was no use… nobody was around. This was starting to feel stranger and stranger. So far, we found no familiar faces and none of the modern technology from our home town.

Suddenly… something caught my eye. "Hey, Donny, look at that."

We approached what appeared to be a car, but not just any car. One of those roller-types… One with wheels instead of hover-engines and. "The last time I saw a car like this… it was in a museum." Donny said.

We then gazed down at the licence-plate. "Look at that date…" I said.

"50…?" Donny asked. "They can't be making cars like this in our era. It's got to be from 1950, but how it got here is beyond me."

The doors of the car were unlocked, so I climbed in and turned on the radio.

_"This is the emergency broadcast news station-Q. Standby for further details on the breaking story that has struck our nation."_

_"At 2:15 am this morning... an unidentifiable flying object was seen in the skies above lake superior. While at the same time all power within 200 miles around station Q have failed"_

_"Reports have come in that the vehicle that does not operate by propeller or steering rudders... has touched down in the parking area near a saw-mill in Manatou-Junction."_

_"All persons bearing fire arms are asked to report at once to the home of Captain Joseph Craigmire... to establish a union of protection"_

_"It is believed... that the occupants of the vehicle that landed are dangerous emissaries of a world not our own... All citizens are asked to be cautious."_

"What the hell…?" Donny scoffed.

"_You are listening to emergency broadcast station-Q. The time is now Saturday, March 21__st__, 1950. Please standby."_

My eyes widened slightly and my lips curled to a sneer as I turned off the radio and hopped out of the car. "Could you believe that…?" Donny asked. "Emissaries of a world not their own…?"

"I also heard the date. The year, 1950… The same as on that licence-plate" I said. "This car is new to them… and we're _one-hundred years_ out of our time."

Donny was quite amazed by all this, "I have no idea what it means to us though."

"I know what it means to them…" I replied. "They think we're aliens."

Donny and I both decided to head back to the ship and talk it over with the others… unaware that two men armed with a pistol and a shot-gun were sneaking up on us from behind us, and taking aim as we walked up the ramp.

"Hold it Harley…" one of them said. "You realize if you start shootin' at them fellers now, you'll be havin' a whole sloop of them pilin' out of that there blimp."

"Ya' think so, Rover…?" asked the other man….

"I know so…" replied Rover. "I heard in the stories… that they ain't nothin' but electric-shadows, and there vehicle they got there… that's what blew out all our power when they came in. Ya' put your hand on it, and you'll be gettin' a great big shock of energy."

"And dig this… in the story; they called 'em… _Voltones._ That's what they are I'd reckon."

Just then, the two men could see someone else coming, and they ducked down behind the woodpiles. It was Erin who came along. She still had no idea of what was going on. "Where is everyone…?" she wondered.

Then suddenly, the two men popped up from behind the wood, "All right, hold it right there!" Rover growled as he aimed his pistol. "Get you're hands up where I can see 'em... Or you lookin' to be shot…?"

Erin was most confused, and tried to explain she wasn't trespassing, and that she just came home. The two men simply brushed it off assuming she was just lying. "Hey, lets see how tough you really are, youngin'" snapped Harley as he prodded her hard with his gun.

"Ow! Hey knock it off…!"

Harley suddenly began to notice, "Say… you ain't any electric-shadow."

Erin took off her shades. "Of course not… I'm a human." she told the men. "That's just our spaceship over there."

"Keep' em up!" snarled Rover, "You Voltones know how to spin a good yarn, but don't fool me. Now you turn yourself around and start marchin'!"

Erin could see that this wasn't going very well so she tried to explain, "Look I know we've been away for a long time without explanation… but you must've heard about me… _Erin McClain._ My brothers and I are the X-team; the greatest video-gamers in the world."

Rover chuckled, "Haw-Haw…! Video-games? I don't know what you're trying to pull missy, but there ain't no such thing as a video game. Least ways not around here."

"What…?" Erin snapped. "But, there were many of them… even way back in 1982 when they first came out."

Rover laughed again, "That there's a good one. 1982 ain't for another oh… thirty-two years."

Erin gasped at the sound of those words. If 1982 was another thirty-two years away, then hat meant that this was 1950. Then she remembered the green sparkling field we ran into out in space… and realized we must've passed through a time-warp. "We're a-hundred years in the past."

"I said move it!" snarled Rover.

"Now wait a sec here, Rover…" said Harley, "Maybe she's tellin' the dang truth."

Just then, ROB came over, _"All personal are to return to the Great-Fox immediately."_ He said, _"I repeat… All personal are to return to the Great-Fox immediately."_

Harley and Rover were quivering in the shoes. "Stay where ya' are… I ain't afraid of no electric-shadow." cried Rover.

"No… don't shoot." cried Erin, "He might blast you."

BANG! Rover fired his pistol which cut a huge dent in ROB'S shoulder. ROB then fired his stun-beams from his eyes which temporarily confused the men. _"I suggest we make our escape before those jokers get me really riled up!"_

ROB and Erin began to dash towards the ship as the men came to their senses and began to shoot their guns endlessly. Rover even shot at the ship and blew out one of the main rocket-thrusters.

Fox and I rushed down the ramp; Fox with his blaster, and me with my staff set on the fire element. "Fire at the lumber-wood. That should scare them off." I said.

We blasted our weapons causing the lumber to catch fire, and the two men to run away scared. I quickly doused the flames with the ice-element before the fire spread. _"My sensors detect the hostiles are in full retreat."_ said ROB.

"Hostiles is right." snapped Fox. "And I thought you said this planet was supposed to be peaceful."

…

Once safely back inside, we all held an immediate meeting as to decide what was to be done about the situation. Knowing how the people of this day and age acted towards extraterrestrial-life meant that Fox and his friends would defiantly be unwelcome by everyone…

As for me and my siblings, even though this was our home planet… it was still not the world we knew and loved.

"Yes I realize it would be tempting to stay, and try to reason with them and show them we're not monsters…" I said. "But no one… not a single person on this entire planet is going to believe for one minute that our presence is a century in the future. Why they'd shun us… or worse they'd put us in some institution and have our heads examined."

Krystal suggested that maybe we could try and live a-part with them. "You all lived on your own before… couldn't you perhaps make your own lives?"

Neither of us agreed with that. "Make our own lives…? On top of some isolated mountain? Cut off from society and with no hope of survival into our own time?" asked Erin.

"I'm with that…" Donny said, "Beside… what about Andross? You know… if you guys go back without us, he just might be able to crush you."

It was decided… we would all be leaving. Slippy had done some calculations and he determined that the green wormhole was still out there, which meant we would still be able to get back, "But the main thrusters are completely shot. They'll take at least half a day to repair… or we can't even get off the ground."

"Well let's get going…" Falco said. "This place is starting to give me the creeps. The sooner we get out of here the better."

Even Fox agreed with Falco there, "I want to get our of here by 3 pm. That's twelve hours away."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Andross was really confused as to what happened to his fleet of ships, as well as where had we disappeared too, finally he found the green-field on his monitors, and determined that it was a wormhole; a gateway through time and space.

He established that we must've fallen in and were now some place in another time. This gave him a sinister idea. _"Close it…!"_ he ordered his minions. _"Build a device to close that wormhole. I'll not have the Star-Fox team, nor the X-team to return and ruin my plans again."_

Decided to obey their master, before he would give them the same fate a Tobor had, they already set to work building powerful machines that would enable them to close the wormhole straight from Venom.

If we didn't get back in time… we would pretty much be history!

_**TO BE CONTINUED**_…


	16. Time Troubles: Part two

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

The next day, a gaggle of men armed with their guns were gathered outside the house of the neighborhood watchman. An old army veteran farmer; Captain Joseph Craigmire…. "All right men… let's show some stance here." He ordered his vigilantes as they all fell in line.

He did an inspection on some of their guns, "Now when was the last time you boys cleaned out your pieces?" he grunted.

He decided to overlook the guns, and then began to pace back and forth down the line of men as he delivered his speech. "Say, Captain… when do we stop all this?" asked a teenage farm-boy.

Craigmire informed him, "We don't stop until the enemy is beaten and imprisoned."

"Now men… when I was in the services I said to myself, _Joseph Craigmire, you fight like you've never fought before and don't take any guff from them Yankees."_

"In life, a man only gets one chance to be a hero… but we have another chance!"

"Well I showed them… and I won us our freedom here in Manatou… but we're not fighting for just our freedom. No sir! Men, what we're fighting for is our safety. The protection of our own kin... We'll show them Voltones whose superior around here!"

His men all cheered, but the moment was soon interrupted as Harley and Rover drove by. "Yo' Joe… Joe!" Rover cried.

"It's Captain Craigmire." he corrected him. "Now what's all the fuss?"

Rover and Harley told him about their encounter with the people from the ship. "They may look like us, and talk like us… but they don't fool us." snapped Rover. "They even got this… this large fella. Like a… er… an over sized tin-can that shot at us."

Craigmire had heard enough, and was now open to any suggestions on what to do about the enemy. That's when the farm-boy had an idea, "Maybe we can try and lure 'em out. Maybe knock out their circuits with pipe-wrenches!"

Craigmire liked the idea, and then ordered his men to scatter themselves around the areas and capture each creature from the ship and bring them back alive. Hearing their orders, all the men set off…

_**Meanwhile**_…

Repairs to the Great-Fox were nearing completion, but still around a few hours of work. Fox and the others couldn't wait to get off of this planet and back to the Lylat-System…

Donny, Erin, and I couldn't wait either, but we were still having it kind of hard having our hopes and dreams dashed; coming back to Earth and realize that it wasn't our world, and we'd have to leave it behind again.

Now that she thought about it, Krystal was also feeling a little upset, as she had always wanted to see our planet up close in person. Fox could tell his Fiancée would appreciate a short trip out there. "Pst, hey Donny, Erin…" Fox suggested. "Maybe you guys could take out there for a few minutes."

Krystal's eyes lit up. "Fox…?"

Donny and Erin thought it over. "It's okay with me…" I said, "Just make sure you guys stay close to the ship, and at the first sign of trouble, come back at once."

Donny and Erin couldn't say no. Krystal pecked Fox and me each on the cheek before she and the others set off. "I just hope they know what they're doing out there…" Fox said.

"To be honest Fox… so do I..." I said.

…

Donny and Erin saw an apple orchard and decided to take Krystal apple-picking. Krystal was so excited she almost dashed out of sight without them. Little did they realize that there were men scattered about the area just waiting for the right moment…

As Donny was off on the far end of the orchard snacking on a ripe red apple, from out of the bushes and behind the trees, two men grabbed Donny and held his mouth shut so he couldn't scream or defend himself. "All right… get him out of here."

The girls were far too busy on the other side of the orchard to notice anything to help him.

…

The next thing Donny knew, he was stripped of his weapons and communicator, which lay in a pile on the other side of a barn-room where he was being held prisoner by ropes tied round his arms and legs.

Just then, the door to the barn opened, and an eight-year old girl in a barn-dress walked in. "You can come closer if you want… I'm not going to hurt you." he said to the girl.

The girl, whose name was Tracy Craigmire, the daughter of Captain Craigmire, moved in closer, "I'm not supposed to be in here, but I couldn't resist taking a peak." she said. "You don't look so dangerous."

Donny raised an eyebrow, "I'm not dangerous… why would I be?"

"But you're Voltones." replied Tracy. "Voltones can assume any shape they'd like. They can even speak our language. That's what Mr. Rover told my father."

Donny shook his head, "Well Rover and your father are wrong… I'm a human, just like you are. I was born here on Earth. The only problem is… we got here in the wrong time era."

Tracy just turned the other way. "I'm sorry, but I can't believe a word you say." She said, "Golly, you sure act awfully human… even though you aren't."

"But I am human… I AM…!" Donny snarled, but all he did was frighten her away. "Man… what's the use?"

_**Meanwhile**_…

Krystal and Erin's apple-baskets were full as they began to walk past the saw-mill on their way to the ship. "Have you seen Donny anywhere…?" Krystal asked.

"Well if I know Donny, he's probably still stuffing his face silly with these apples." Erin joked, and then suddenly she was lassoed by the farm-boy. "AAH…!"

"Erin!" cried Krystal. Erin urged Krystal to run and get help.

The farm-boy grabbed his wrench ready to bash Erin's head, when he stopped, "Hey… you're a girl." he said in disbelief.

"What did you think I was some sort of a zombie?" snapped Erin.

"Well… aren't you?"

Erin couldn't believe how idiotic this guy was acting towards her. Then the boy looked into her basket, "Apples. Now don't tell me you Voltones eat those too?"

Erin sighed, "I'm not a Voltone… none of us are."

…

The repairs were almost finished, but the rest of the crew hadn't returned yet. "Did you try calling them?" Peppy asked.

"I'm already trying…" I said, "Donny's not answering for some reason."

Just then, Krystal rushed into the control-room. "Guys…! Guys!" she shrieked, "They've got Erin! She's outside…"

Fox and I rushed outside with our weapons at the ready. "Heh…! Kids… you just can't keep an eye on them these days…" he joked, but he looked up and saw the others staring gruesomely at him. "What…?

…

Back outside, Erin and the farm-boy were snacking on the apples Erin had. "Boy, these are good… where'd you get them?" he asked her.

"Over there in the orchard…" Erin asked.

"Heh…! Well you're lucky old man Patterson did catch you."

"Really…? Is it any different than being caught by you?" Erin asked, "Come on… you know I'm telling the truth, please let me go."

The farm-boy shook his head, "I have orders to bring you in alive…" then he turned around and grabbed his wrench, "But if you cause me any trouble, I'll--"

"All right, drop it!" Fox snarled as he leapt over the crate posing his blaster at him. "I said drop it…!" the boy dropped his wrench, and his eyes widened at the sight of Fox. "Awe man…!"

I came round with my staff ready, "You better not have hurt my sister, Dude." I growled at him. "What? You're her brother?"

"Yes… I'm also the brother of a boy named Donny McClain. Do you know where he is?"

The boy shook his head, "No… my orders were to come out here and try and capture you all one at a time, but I did hear word that some of our boys got one of your crew."

That clenched it, Donny had been captured. "Is there anyone else in the area?" Fox asked. "You better answer me…"

The boy stuttered a little, "Uh… some… scattered about."

I grabbed the boy by the collar, "Now you listen up…" I said deeply, "How we got here isn't important. You wouldn't understand anyway… but we're leaving here at 3 pm and I want my brother back when I leave."

"So I'm going to give you just one hour to get him back here… or we're coming into town with weapons a lot more powerful than these and there won't be much left standing when we leave."

"One hour, Dude!"

The boy ran off as if he had just met the grim-reaper. "Don't you think you overdid it a bit?" Erin asked.

"Are you kidding…? I don't think I was tough enough."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Donny's arms were untied as Tracy had come and fed him a sandwich and a glass of milk. Her father said it was okay, but Stacy still sure whether or not to believe Donny's stories.

"I still don't understand how you say you're from Earth, but this isn't where you come from."

Donny decided to try another approach and handed her a small jewel he got from Titania, "That's another planet we explored…" he explained. "Now a little over a year ago… my siblings and I were caught in a warp-vortex."

"A year ago…?" Tracy asked sounding confused.

"Oh… well I guess to you that'll be about a-hundred years in the future."

Tracy then began to look sad about something, "Well… if I do believe you, and you are telling the truth, we could never meet… at least not for real."

Donny knew she had a point. While even still he did think it would be tempting to stay, it still wasn't a good idea.

Living in a country where you aren't known… where there is no record of your birth… or even the very technology that we need to survive from our own time hadn't been invented yet. The answer had to be No. This was Earth, but Donny knew he didn't belong in this age, and neither did Erin nor I, but he let Tracy keep the jewel, "That'll prove that we met."

"I hate to have to do this, but I have to tie you up again." Tracy said. Donny didn't seem to mind, "You're just obeying orders."

_**Meanwhile**_…

Outside… her father, Craigmire, had just met up with the farm-boy outside his house. "Captain… we got trouble." he panted. "You got one of their kin here…?"

"Well we got one of 'em under arrest if that's what you mean." Craigmire answered. The boy explained to him what would happen if Donny wasn't released. "If they don't get their friend back their going to blow Manatou Junction right off the face of the globe. They told me themselves."

Craigmire was outraged, "All right you listen here." he said sternly yet proudly. "You go rally up as many of the troops as ya' can… I'm going to get my old war cannon. Our mission; _target the enemy-ship."_

"Yes, sir!" cried the boy and he ran off leaving Craigmire more than determined to destroy the spaceship and take us all as prisoners. "No Voltone creatures are going to mess around in my town."

_**Meanwhile**_…

All of us were just sitting on the ramp waiting for the time I gave to pass. "How much longer now…?" Slippy asked.

I check my communicator-timer, "About two minutes. They should be along any minute now."

We then heard the sound of men marching along and singing _"When the Saints go marching in"_ and they also seemed to be pushing a large cannon and a wheelbarrow full of cannonballs with them.

"Oh no… now what are they up to?" Fox groaned.

Craigmire ordered his men "HALT…!" and then poised the cannon so it was aiming directly at the ship. "All right you Voltones, now here this…" he called at us. "You invadein' varmints… this here's an ultimatum. You got five minutes to get off of that there blimp, and give yourselves up… if you ain't out by then… you, and that blimp are going sky-high."

He walked back to his men, and loaded the cannon ready to fire, but the rest of us weren't even fazed. "He's gone completely nuts." Falco said. "Should we evacuate…?"

"Are you kidding…?" Fox said, and we all headed back inside.

"Hey Captain… they've gone back inside." said the farm-boy. "What do you think they're up to?"

"Well er… perhaps they're getting ready to give in?" Craigmire said…

Suddenly, my voice was heard over the ship's loud-speaker. "Now listen, all you out there…" I told the men, "Listen to what I have to say."

"Now whatever stories you may have heard about us, not all of it is true. Some of us are aliens, but they are not hostile. As for the rest of us… we are not aliens or anything else you claim we are to be…"

"We are citizens of the United-States just as the rest of you are. Now if you still find that hard to believe… then maybe this can help clear things up…"

"It wasn't until the year 1969 that United-States first landed a man on The Moon. Now that's roughly twenty years from now in your time… but eighty years ago in our time…"

The men didn't buy it for an instant, and their ultimatum stood.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Donny struggled, and managed to hp up onto his feet. He hopped over towards his weapons, and managed to shoot his blaster through he ropes that held his arms together. He freed his leg, and re-gathered all his things, but just as he was about to head out the door, he ran into Tracy…

"Hey!" she cried, "How'd you get out?"

To Donny, that wasn't important anymore, "I'm heading for the Great-Fox, and even you can't stop Me." he gazed past her outside, "Where is everyone anyway?"

Tracy told him about her father's plan about the cannon, "Their mission was, Target the enemy-ship."

Donny's shades nearly fell off, "Dude… they can't do that. I got to get back there and help them."

Tracy hated to see him so worried so she actually allowed him to go. She even offered to tag along with him as a pretend hostage so the vigilantes patrolling the streets couldn't grab him and try to throw him back.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Andross' minions had finished designing the laser-projector they needed to close the wormhole. _"Good… begin the sealing."_ Andross ordered.

The beam was launched, but it would take a little while to reach its destination and close the wormhole. _"I don't care about that… just as long as it seals. Then those wretched scoundrels will out of my misery… forever. Heh, heh, heh…"_

…

We still hadn't evacuated the ship, and the men outside had finally lost their patience. "All right… we warned ya' all." Craigmire shouted. "Get ready boys…!"

They loaded the cannon, and threw in the gun-powder. "Get ready… aim…!"

"Wait! Stop! Don't shoot!" called a voice.

All the men turned, and those of us on the ship gazed through the view-port. "It's Donny…!" cried Erin.

"Tracy! What are you doing here…?" Craigmire snapped at his daughter.

"You can't blow up their ship, Daddy. It's their only way to get home." she cried.

Craigmire didn't know what to think, "I don't what lies you've been told young-lady, but I think you better get on home right now."

"Captain…! He's getting away!" cried the farm-boy. The men had completely taken their eyes off Donny, and he was already halfway up the ramp. He stopped at the last moment to say thank you to Tracy before getting inside and closing the ramp.

"Well don't just stand there… shoot at them." Craigmire shouted.

The men fired their guns and the cannon as fast as they could, but they didn't even put so much as an ash on the ship.

Donny was sure given quite the welcome as the engines roared to life and the ship took off into the skies. "Do you really think we're doing the right thing…?" Erin asked. "Leaving our home planet behind again…?"

Fox looked at her and smiled, "Let's just say… we came here, and when we realized we weren't welcome… we left."

Soon we were back in space and we were on a direct course towards the wormhole. "Hey…" Krystal said. "Look what's happening…!"

We all looked out and could see the hole was growing smaller and smaller by the minute. "It's… It's closing!" cried Peppy. "We've got to hurry or we'll be stuck here!"

We all took our positions and forwarded as much power to the engines as much as we could. The ship began to pick up speed, and we just barley managed to make it as the hole sealed from behind…

…

Too bad Andross was able to see everything, _"Star-Fox, and the X-Team!"_ he growled. _"Blast them!"_

While he did fail to seal us off from this dimension, but he did gain something more from it. Not only had he sealed the wormhole, but he also gained its energy for his power-core. By now, the levels were nearing eighty-percent…

Andross simply smiled wickedly. "Perhaps all is not at such a complete waste after-all."

…

As for us… we finally got in touch with General-Pepper and confirmed all that what happened to us, _"At least its good to know you're all back, and in one piece."_ he said to us, _"Return to base at once… there's a welcome home banquet waiting for you. Pepper out…" _and he was gone.

Slippy licked his lips happily. "Mmm-mm… I hope they just got enough food. I'm so hungry I could eat them out of business."

"Hey… not without us you're not." added Fox.

He and his team shared a laugh, but then they noticed that I and my team were at the view-port staring off into space. "Uh… guys…" Fox called to us.

Krystal motioned for him to let us be, but we turned and responded, "We were just thinking how strange it was to have been so close to our world and yet still so far." Erin said.

The others knew how we felt, "You guy's going to be okay…?" Falco asked.

We all gave him the "So-So" expression. Even though we still missed Earth, and the Lylat-system wasn't really our world… it still felt good to be home.


	17. Out of this Dimension, AGAIN!

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

For months we had struggled to keep one step ahead of Andross' forces, and prevent them from doing anymore damage to the Lylat system…

Our battles took us to other planets… across many sectors… Even though unexplored areas, and hostile worlds…

All the enemies we fought seemed to grow stronger and stronger every one of them we faced after another. Sometimes it even looked as though we were finally going to be finished… but every time we somehow managed to destroy the machine… mess up the robot's plans… and make Andross really lose his temper.

So far we were unbeatable… but we were also growing very agitated as to how long we could keep going like this. There had to be some way to put Andross himself out of commission, and stop his evil plans for good, but the only way to even try that was to head for Venom… the most dangerous planet in the whole system.

Just thinking about going anywhere within parsecs of it made people nearly die of heart-attacks…

Slippy and Peppy had tried every single theory they had about producing protective shields that would guard us and our vehicles against Venom's pollution, but all methods had failed miserably…

So far… there was little we could do except remain on standby and thwart Andross diabolical schemes whenever one such as came up.

As for Andross… after so many plains being thwarted, he still never gave up. He was almost willing to do anything to power up and store energy in that container in the floor for whatever he was planning to use it…

Today however he was just blowing off steam and shooting skeet with his powers and scrap-heaps. _"PULL…!"_ he thundered. His minions catapulted the scrap-heap high into the air allowing Andross to shoot at it with his built in blasters.

Then he slumped back into his throne, and rubbed his brow. _"Somehow I've got to find a way to gain more energy_." he mumbled to himself, but he honestly didn't know what to do anymore. All his master creations were destroyed, and no matter how he tried to perfect them, the Star-fox team, and my X-team always made a fool of him.

There had to be a way he could gather energy, and not draw attention. Just then… one of his robot minions begged to have a word. _"Can't you see I'm trying to think…?"_ Andross grunted.

"_But, but Excellency…"_ the minion cried, _"I just thought you'd be interested in seeing what our spy-scopes have picked up..."_

He handed Andross a small map of the Lylat-System, and as he got a good look at the planets, and they seemed to be falling into strange positions in their orbit around Solar. Andross remembered studying this in his histories of the Lylat-System… and as he calculated Venom's position, the layer of the pollution, and the other interesting things that would happen soon…

"_Yes… yes… Heh, heh, heh… it's perfect."_ he sniggered. He finally had a plan… one that was guaranteed to get him the energy he needed, and his enemies would never suspect a thing. _"In the meantime… there is still more destruction to be done…"_

…

As the days went by, he launched more and more assaults against the system, and it was Star-Fox and the X-team to action. "Three attacks in two days…?" Fox growled. "Andross must really be losing it…"

"You're telling me…" I said. "I may be an action type of guy…but this is just nuts."

Still… we faced off against many different enemies. Now there were only three left. The three enemy ships began to retreat. "Hey they're trying get away." Falco sneered.

"Not if we have anything to say about it…" said Erin. The rest of the team agreed, and we boosted our Arwings deep into space, with the Great-Fox lagging behind us again…

Suddenly, the warning alert sounded. Peppy did the calculations, "Uh-Oh… it can't be…" he cried.

"Peppy…? What's the matter?" Slippy asked, but suddenly he could see for himself. There out in the blackness was that strange bird-machine… the one that sent Fox out of this dimensions once before, and it looked as though it was planning to do it again…

"Fox… Fox come in…!" cried Slippy.

…

Unfortunately all of our radios were suffering interference with the boosters still at full throttle, and Slippy's speech was garbled by the static for any of us to understand anything at all…

"Slippy… Slippy come in!" Fox said. "Slippy, I can't understand you."

Finally the radio gave out, "The signal's lost." said Krystal. "I can't get a sound out of it."

"It's all right…. We'll blow-up these baddies and then find out what he wants." Donny said. "That has got to be the best thing I've heard in weeks." Falco joked.

We continued to chase after the three remaining enemy ships, _unaware of the trouble that lurked up ahead…_

As we continued to chase after the ships, we learned that they had lasers facing backwards that they could fire at us, even while they were thrusting forward… the hard way… as we each got hit. Our ships jolted hard, and each of us groaned as we were rocked about.

"Man… it looks like these guys want to play rough." snapped Donny.

"Let's get them…!" I shouted, and the chase continued.

As we zoomed further and further ahead, something caught Fox's attention. There, up ahead, he could see a strange bird-like machine. The same one that sent him--

"Guys…! Guys…!" he called. "Pull back… quick…!"

The rest of us were confused, "Why…?" I asked "What's the ma-- AAH…!" we all shielded our eyes and the bird began to flash a very bright light at our ships. "What's going on?" cried Erin.

"I'm dreaming! Come on Falco, boy… wake up!"

Our screams seemed to echo as we felt ourselves being pulled into a strange vortex… and the Great-Fox lost contact with us. "Oh, no…! Not again?" cried Slippy.

Even Peppy was outraged by this, "There's nothing we can do about it Slippy except hope that they can make it out of there like Fox did the last time."

…

All of us had been separated in the warp, and were now divided into groups of two, and all of us had blacked-out. I struggled to wake myself up. "Aww… man, what hit me?" I wondered.

As my eyes began to see clearly again, I wasn't sure if they really were back to normal as what I saw nearly made me want to hurl. This place… it was… almost indescribable. The blackness of space was gone, and replaced with a dark shade of violet.

The stars were shimmering brighter than ever… and there were smiling faces in the appearance of planets, each a different color and size in the distance. What made it worse… was the entire place itself was waving about as if I were a drunk-man looking through a campfire. I could barley keep myself together.

Then suddenly I could see something else up ahead… it was another Arwing, and I could see who was in the cockpit. "Fox…" he was lying unconscious with his body draped over the steering controls, "FOX…!" I called, but he didn't respond. That's when I realized of course he couldn't hear me though the cockpits…

I flew my ship in closer and then tried the communicators. "Fox… hey Fox. Wake up!" he finally stirred awake. "Huh…? Mykan…?"

_**Meanwhile**_…

The girls were just waking up themselves and realizing, "Uh, Krystal… something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore." Erin said.

Although Krystal didn't understand what Kansas was, but she knew what Erin meant, "What is this place…?" she wondered. "And where are the others…?"

Erin gasped when she realized that the whole team wasn't together. "We've got to try and find them…" she suggested, built then realizing how large this dimension was, "Uh… that is… wherever they may be…"

_**Meanwhile**_…

Falco and Donny had already recovered, but still couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Hey…! This doesn't look like the dark reaches of space." Donny complained. "I mean… where's all the blackness gone?"

Falco sighed irritably, "You idiot!" he grunted. "All your screaming and bracing there out my excellent eagle sense of direction."

"Eagle sense…? Ha!" snarled Donny, _"Ego-sense_ is more like it to me… but that still doesn't matter, or gets us out of here. Wherever _here_ is…"

They tried to contact the rest of the team…

…

But just like me, I couldn't reach anyone expect for Fox, who seemed to be the only one who knew more about this place than any of us…

He told me once long ago, he ran across that Robot-bird and was transported into this dimension, and the very interference from all the distortion outside was what was making it impossible for us to contact the others from long distances, which was why only he and I could speak to each other… as long as we stayed close by.

The only thing was… he couldn't remember just how he escaped from this place the last time… it was just too long ago. "But one thing I know… we got to find the others. Maybe then we figure out how to get out of here."

I agreed with him, and at least our other instruments were functioning properly, and our radar scans showed several green dots indicating the position of the others… but before we could set off, something hit me from behind. "Hey! Fox… watch what you're doing!" I called to him.

"What? What the heck are you talking about?" Fox asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked back, "Didn't you just shoot at me?"

Fox shook his head, and then suddenly we both got hit. "Look!" I cried out as I pointed behind at several machine-droids. Including one of the three we were chasing before. They were coming after us on full throttle. "Let's move!" snapped Fox, and we moved or ships out of the line of fire.

As soon as we got out far enough, we looped round and began the assault. The smaller droids were shot down easily, but the one we were changing before was still being sneaky… and it could also send us messages…

I read what he had to tell us, "He says… _"So you like to play games, huh?"_

"Play games…? Well I'm sure not having any fun." said Fox, and he began to fire his lasers to try and hit it, but the machine evaded his every blast, and escaped unharmed, even I was having a hard time going after it. "Man… this guy really mean's business." I groaned.

Then another message appeared on our radar screens, _"You think you can escape here… you can't even beat me as the first step."_

"The first step…?" Fox asked. "What's he mean by that?"

"I don't know… but I think I have an idea how to get him." I said, and then I began to speak to him in Saurian so that the droid wouldn't be able to understand, and Fox could use his translator to understand me.

As soon as I finished speaking, we lined up; with Fox at the front and I from behind. We began to charge straight towards the droid from both end, and then waited for the last minute… and just as we hoped; the droid flew upwards in an attempt to dodge us again. "Get it!" I cried and we both shot a nova bomb upwards… this time there was no escape for the droid as it got caught in the explosions...

KAPOW!

It was destroyed. "All right…!"

"We got it!"

Suddenly… outside, the waving energy around us seemed to stop flowing, and everything seemed to be clear as it should be, and not only that… but a little bit of the scenery began to fade slightly, and we could see through to the Lylat-System.

Fox and I suddenly began to realize what that droid mean by, _"The First Step"_

Just then, our communicators beeped. "Fox…? Mykan…?"

It was the rest of the crew. "Are you boys alright…?" asked Krystal.

"Don't worry… we're okay." Fox answered, "And we found a way to get out of this dimension."

Everyone's eye slit up, and I explained to them, "The droids that we were chasing before are somewhere in this dimension. In order to escape we have to find and destroy all of them."

"Well let's get a move on… Falco said, "This place is making me sick as it is."

For, actually agreeing with Falco, we all sprinted off to locate the other two droids. We found them… and they were determined to avenge the destruction of their fallen comrade that Fox and I shot down.

"All right team… split into groups of three." Fox suggested. We all agreed… Falco, Fox and I would take the one on the right, and the others would take the left. "Get them!" and all our ships began to soar, tumble about as if you were watching a soccer-match.

These ships proved to be even slicker than the one Fox and I faced, and we couldn't shoot our nova-bombs this time… not at the risk of hitting one of our teammates. Not to mention they still had their rear-lasers, which made it so they could actually try and hit two targets with one shot.

"Dude… this isn't working!" cried Donny.

"Tell me something I don't know." snapped Erin.

Finally, we were all boxed in together. Both the droids on either side of our group, and charging right for us. "Uh oh… think fast Mykan…!" I muttered to myself, and then I realized… "Guys… listen to what I say… don't question me." I told the team.

After I explained the plain… We waited, "Steady! Wait for it!" I said. The others were growing tense, and frightened, "NOW…!" and we all yanked, and pushed on our controls. Some of us sped upwards, and some of us sped down… and the two droids crashed into each other…

KAPOW!

KABOOM!

They both were destroyed… and the dimension began to fade much more. "Well thinking Mykan." Krystal complimented.

I smirked at her, "Hey… never underestimate the X-team. We've been through pretty much everything."

Suddenly, the dimension stopped fading, and our own dimension was almost completely in view again, but that was as far as it went. "Hey… what's happening?" asked Falco. "I thought you said this would get us out of here…"

"I-- I don't understand…" Fox said, confused himself.

Suddenly, our Arwing radar's detected, _"Warning! Incoming Enemy… Warning! Incoming Enemy…"_

We all looked up, down… and everywhere around. "Look…!" cried Erin as she motioned us to look out into the distance at a huge slot machine that was coming right at us. "That… that machine!" cried Fox. "I thought I destroyed it years ago…"

That's what he thought, but it was back now… "I always wanted to play slots…" Donny said sounding nervous, "But I think those slots want to play us!"

I could see Donny was about to pull his on his triggers, "Donny… wait, no!" I called to him, but he already fired at the machine, which didn't actually harm it, but caused its lever to go down and spin the tumblers.

"What's happening…?" Erin asked.

The tumblers began to slow down; first _a Star_… then a _Bar_… and lastly, _Andross._ The hairs on Fox's neck stood up, "Donny… get away from there!" he practically screamed.

"Huh…?" Donny looked back at the machine just in time to see it fire missiles right towards him, "YIKES…!" and he sped out of the way, allowing Krystal and Erin to shoot down the bombs.

The machine then reset itself, "Fox… how we destroy that thing?" I asked.

Fox explained that we had to continue to spin the tumblers until we managed to get all lucky sevens. Only then would the machine be destroyed, and we'd all be released from the dimension…

"But watch out…" he warned us, "If even one of those tumblers lands on Andross, be ready for an assault."

Falco sighed, "This is going to take a while…" he said hinting that stubborn slot machines only produced random combinations. So the best thing we did was take turns… a few of us lined our ships up respectfully to take turns spinning the tumblers, and the rest of us remained on standby to blast any missiles if someone would get Andross' face.

Then we'd switch positions in vice-versa, but still… Falco was right… this was boring. We tried so many times that I lost count of how-many turns we had taken. Even being able to sometimes freeze the tumblers so they wouldn't spin didn't help as much.

Some of us were struggling to keep ourselves awake, and keeping in mind that we were fighting to get back to our own dimension. Finally Falco couldn't stand it anymore. "That's it! I've had it…! I am going to try and bust this thing wide open!" and he fired his rockets heading right for the machine. "Falco…!" called Fox, but Falco didn't turn around…

He continued to ram into the slot-machine with his Arwing, putting lots of dents in both it and the machine.

And by mistake he had shot the lever with his lasers just as he rammed into it, and all the tumblers landed on lucky-7s. "Wow… it worked." Falco said with a wide-eyed expression.

The machine began to break-up and Falco sped away just in time.

KAPOW! The machine exploded, which caused another white flash, and then… ZAP! The dimension was gone, and we could see the Great-Fox. "We made it…!" I cried, and the whole team broke out into a cheer.

The communicators then began to beep, which spoiled the moment. _"Fox… it's Peppy. Are you guys alright?"_

Fox answered back, "We're alright Peppy… but I think for now we just want to come aboard and hit the hay." He joked at the fact that some of us were still bored from spending that long against the slot-machine…

As for the dimension itself… all we had to do was stay away from the bird-like machine until we could work out what it was all about… and we'd steer clear of that place all together.

Still… even though the mission was successful, we still hadn't noticed that the planets were slowly but surely still gathering in their odd positions…


	18. Fox's past problem

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

Andross had been rather quiet for the past week, though we weren't sure why… but that didn't mean our patrols were canceled. In fact, today we were orbiting and searching around the planet Papetoon… Fox's birth-planet… where a report of strange and disturbing signals were detected…

Peppy, and Slippy were in orbit around the planet, and everything seemed fine from their view. As for the rest of the team, we each broke into groups of two and searched the planet in the Arwings…

Donny and Erin…

Falco and I…

And Fox stayed with Krystal… _mostly because they also wanted some time alone together…_

Still… we all had been circling around different sectors of the planet, and so far we had nothing to report. No disturbances… nothing unusual… not even anything close to the source of any signal.

"Well that about wraps things up here…" Krystal said. "Once again, nothing to report..."

Fox however was not convinced, "Those signals we monitored… they must've come from somewhere." He convinced Krystal to stay with him a while longer on patrol, and then they'd gather up the rest of the team and return to the ship.

They suddenly found themselves flying over a lake, one that Fox remembered whereas his father used to take him fishing when he was younger, before the calls of duty made things difficult… but Fox was nearly speechless at what he had seen. "Will you take a look at that…!"

There was an entire village just a small walk near the lake. A village that seemed to be run by Fox-like creatures just like Fox himself. Most of which were families too. Fox was amazed… but soon he wasn't surprised. It had been a while since he had actually been to his birth-planet, and a lot must have changed over the years since his father died.

"Maybe we ought to check it out?" Krystal suggested. Fox couldn't disagree with her, so they set their Arwings down in an area away from the village, but upon their setting foot within the village grounds… they found everyone was gone, back into their huts.

"What goes on around here?" Fox asked. "First there's a whole village of people and then nothing… like a ghost town."

Just then, the ground began to quake, and tremble. "Whoa! Hey!"

"A very rumbling ghost town!" cried Krystal.

As they took a few more steps forward under the stress of the quaking, they realized, "It's coming from by the lake." said Fox. They dashed over to take a closer look, and they saw the lake was bubbling like boiling water, and swirling as if something was going to emerge.

Fox and Krystal readied their weapons, but just then they heard the sound of someone chanting, _"Oh great spirit of the lake…"_

Fox and Krystal turned and could see an old Fox knelling down at a shrine just by the lakes edge. "Please Great Spirit… forgive the delay… we promise you shall have what you desire in due time. Please spare our village."

The rumbling and the lake quieted down, and all was at peace once more. "Okay… what was all that about?" Fox asked, and that's when the Old-Fox turned round, and gasped, "Master Fox McCloud… is it truly you?"

Fox then recognized the Old-Fox, as one of his father's old friends, "Grey… _Grey-White…"_

Grey confirmed, "It really is you…" he cried, "Master Fox… have you come to meet your promise and marry my daughter, Sagwa?"

Fox's eyes bulged to the size of tennis-balls, and his jaw dropped wide-open, "W-what…?"

As for Krystal, she heard every word, "Fox… What is he talking about?" she asked.

…

A while later… Fox signaled for the rest of the team to come to the village, and upon our arrival, we could see the villagers bustling about crying for joy, _"Master Fox McCloud has returned…"_

"_Begin the preparations."_

We all were gathered at Grey's house, which the largest one as he was the richest one in the village, and the headman. "Fox… what's this all about?" I asked.

"And why are all these creatures so happy you've returned?" added Erin.

Just then… a pretty young white-vixen came up to the doorway, "Fox McCloud! I can't believe it's really you."

Fox took one good look at the girl, "Oh, Sagwa… uh… it's great to see you again." He said as he gently kissed her hand, but he began to feel a chill run up his spine as he could sense that Krystal was already starting to feel numb inside… _and indeed… she was!_

Even though she a normal expression on her face, Krystal really felt her insides starting to churn…

Regardless, Grey, and his wife Ginger, explained to us everything of what had happened.

Years back, when Fox was only a little cub, and living with his family in their den on Papetoon, Fox and Sagwa were playmates. Always going for swims, sharing their toys and snacks…

James McCloud and Grey then had an idea that perhaps it would be nice if maybe one day Fox and Sagwa would marry. Their families really looked up to that idea, and it was what kept their hopes and spirits alive when Andross first began his war on the Lylat-system.

Sagwa though she was so little, she already understood what was going on right from the start. She gazed at Fox with a twinkle in her eyes and her hands folded. "For many years I dreamed of the day that Fox would return… and now at last my prayers have been answered."

Fox felt like he was going to hurl.

"Fox…! What's the matter with you?" Falco snapped. "How could you let this happen…?"

Fox didn't have to answer as we could tell from the expression on his face that it was obviously a silly arrangement by his father, when he was still so little that he obviously didn't know any better of what was going on.

That made Krystal feel slightly less irritated, but now her sour expression was worse than ever. "It's all right…" she sighed softly, "It all happened in the past… Right Fox?" she hinted while squeezing his tail hard.

"Oh… I'm really in hot water now." he groaned.

"Water…?" Donny asked, "Say that reminds me… didn't you say something about a monster being in the lake?"

"Yes… unfortunately it's true." said Grey.

He explained how a year back a large monster had appeared in the lake, and did help keep the village a safe place from Andross' forces, but in exchange… it was demanded that Sagwa become his wife.

We all gasped in shock, "Whoa! Talk about a major demand…!" muttered Erin.

Ginger dabbed her eyes with the sleeve on her robe. "It's horrible… simply horrible. We tried to refuse the demand, but our master is intent on having our Sagwa for his own."

Sagwa suddenly threw herself into Fox's arm sobbing in fear. "Oh, Fox… I'm so frightened!"

Fox didn't know why, but he patted her back tried to ease her fears, much to Krystal's annoyance. "I tried to tell him that I am betrothed… but, he simply refuses to believe." said Sagwa.

"You're already engaged…?" Fox asked stupidly, "To whom…?"

All of us looked embarrassed, "That'd be you, lover-boy." Falco said sounding low.

"Master Fox please… you must help us." Grey said, "If we do not do something and quickly, the monster of the lake plans to destroy our village as his ultimatum."

Realizing that we couldn't let this happen, and the village being peaceful and not as powerful as Corneria, or the other plane, it would be crushed for sure if that monster was as powerful as it was said to be…

"All right… I'll help you." Fox finally said.

The rest of us agreed… we always had to do our duties, no matter how much we'd dislike a mission concept.

Grey, his wife, and Sagwa were overjoyed, "Attention everyone… Fox McCloud has agreed to help us. Begin preparations for the ceremony." Then all three of them ran off, leaving Fox confused, "Ceremony…?"

"What are they talking about…?" I said, "I thought they only wanted us to deal with the monster in the lake."

"It looks like that's only part of the arrangement…" said Erin.

_**That night**_…

While Fox was in the house trying to sort everything out, the rest of us were all outside, guarding the perimeter. It was a little chilly, but Krystal and I used our staffs to light bonfires to help keep everyone warm. Still… Krystal's expression hadn't changed ever since she had found out about Fox and Sagwa. It almost was as if he was cheating on her…

"Hey, do you think Fox can actually straighten this out…?" Donny asked.

"Well he'd better…" snapped Erin, "He already promised to marry Krystal, remember?"

Falco just let out a yawn, "Wouldn't surprise me if things turned out ugly for Fox."

As I passed by, and flicked by fingers across his head, "Ow! Hey…! What was that for?"

"Take a guess…" I said, "Imagine how Krystal must feel about this."

Krystal's expression still hadn't changed one bit, she knew deep down that Fox loved her, and he had no idea bout the arrangement with Sagwa. What was really eating her inside was what if Fox had no other option…?

…

Inside, Grey was doing all that he could to convince Fox to marry Sagwa in the shortest possible time, "The fewer delays, the better for our safety."

Sagwa held Fox's hands, "Please… do as my father says, and make me your wife. I can't bear to think what would happen if the monster in the lake were to take me."

Fox suddenly realized something, "But wait… if this monster or whatever it is really wants Sagwa that bad… then the odds are he'll still go after her even if she were married."

"No… you don't understand…" replied Grey, "The master wishes to have a _virgin_ as his wife. We feel that if we hold a marriage ceremony he most likely won't go after Sagwa."

Fox really didn't know what to do now, he couldn't just let Sagwa get pulled into such a fate, but what would he do about Krystal… the one he truly loved.

Just then, the earthquakes began to start up again, and they were now more violent than ever. "It's the monster…!" cried Grey. "He is emerging from the lake as we speak."

Just then, they heard Erin screaming outside…

"What… what is that?" Donny cried.

"Fox… get out here!" I called.

Fox dashed outside quickly, and saw a giant spider-like machine being driven by a small aquatic creature. "That's the monster of the lake?" Fox asked in near disbelief.

"Yes… unfortunately it is…" cried Grey.

The creature looked down at everyone, and spoke in rhyme…

"People of this village that which I see…"

"I wish to possess a lovely bride-to-be."

"If not what I get, then what I shall take."

"Such mess of this village I shall make."

He was demanding that Sagwa be handed over to him, or he'd use his machine to destroy the village. "Hand her over, my anger is gushing."

"Or the village with my machine I'll be crushing."

Falco was growing annoyed with all his rhyming, "Well anyone got any suggestions?" he asked.

Fox had one, and he marched straight up towards the machine, "Listen here pal… you can't have Sagwa, and that's all there is too it, and if you try to destroy the village you'll be sorry."

The creature simply laughed…

"My, my… feisty aren't we?"

"But what makes you believe you can stand up to me…?"

He gave us all a demonstration of how powerful his machine was by firing a huge beam of plasma-energy at a far off mountain, completely destroying it so not even any dust was left.

"WHOA…!" we all cried out. It was amazing how much power that machine of his had. Fox however was still not willing to give in. "Big figures… you still won't get what you want by destroying the village." he said.

The creature agreed with him, "Yes… perhaps that is true…"

"But there is something else, and it concerns you."

He pulled on a lever to reveal, "Krystal…!" cried Fox. She was being held hostage, and the creature warned us all that if we didn't hand Sagwa over… the village would not be the only thing he would crush.

The creature gazed up at the moon…

"I shall be here at the first stroke of dawn…"

"Either meet my demands or the village and girl will be gone!"

He then pulled on his controls and began to head for the lake taking Krystal with him. "Fox…!" she cried.

"No! Krystal…!" Fox shouted, but the monster had already vanished with his machine and Krystal below the water's surface. Fox fell to his knees and roared loudly ad he pounded the ground with his fists.

Sagwa and her family were starting to wonder if maybe Fox had feelings for that girl that was just taken away.

…

The monster had taken Krystal to a cave under the lake were he stored his machine and served as his base of operations, and home. Krystal was chained to the walls, and she was struggling to try and break free.

"Struggle and strive you'll not escape yet."

"The more you do, tighter do the chains get."

Krystal sneered at him, "You can't leave me trapped here like this."

The monster admitted that he had no intention to, he was simply using her as a bargaining chip to get Sagwa… However… he was going to live up to his ultimatum…

"If my demands they refuse to comply…"

"I'm afraid you , my friend, are doomed to die"

Krystal gulped hard, and continued to struggle while the monster laughed at her. "You'll never get away with this!: Krystal growled, "Someone on my team will rescue me…"

The creature didn't believe that would be happening…

"Rescue you, they will not dare…"

"My machine is to powerful, as you saw up there."

"Heh, heh, ah, ah, ah…!"

…

Up on the surface, we contacted Peppy and Slippy in the Great-Fox, and we asked them to do a scan of the machine our communicator camera's recorded. _"Well from what you've picked up… it seems that creature's got one a power source."_ said Peppy.

"We know that already…" I said to him, "But what can we do to stop it?"

Peppy was sad to admit that he didn't have any information as the machine seemed a little advanced for anything he had seen. _"The best advice I can give you is to outsmart him. Peppy out…"_

We all sighed irritably, "Thanks for nothing…" Falco muttered.

Fox and Falco hadn't the slightest idea of how to outsmart the monster with his machine, but as for me and my siblings, "I think we got an idea…" I said. "Listen…"

We all huddled together and whispered the plan, part of which involved us handing Sagwa over, "But then what we do is--"

We continued to whisper the plan, and Fox actually liked it, "Not bad… it might just even things up."

With nothing much to do except wait for dawn to break, we all decided to get some rest.

…

When the sun began to rise, everything was ready, and the monster was well on his way. His machine emerged from the lake and stomped its way into the village, with Krystal dangling from her chains.

"Fox flipped up his communicator, "Okay… he's coming. Everybody ready…?"

"Clear…!"

"Clear…!"

"Clear…!"

"Clear…!"

This was it… "Showtime..."

The machine stopped in front of Fox, and the creature looked down upon him from the driver's seat. "The time I have given you has now passed…"

"Do I get my bride, or aside the town I'll cast?"

Fox held up his hand, "Whoa… take it easy… We'll give her to you."

The monster's eyes lit up and twinkled, "Oh, hoo… what luck and joy."

"I am very pleased young boy."

"Sagwa and I, so happy we shall be…"

"But hand her over first, before I set this one free."

Fox actually then convinced him to let go a Krystal first, and so he did. Fox helped Krystal out of her chains, and she hugged him hard. "Oh, Fox…" she cried, "I knew you'd save me."

Fox smiled at his fiancée, and then instructed the monster, "Go over there… into the woods… there's a big ceremony waiting for you and Sagwa."

The monsters face seemed happier than ever and he immediately headed off towards the woods. "Fox…? How could you do that to him?" Krystal asked, as she was still unaware of our plan…

Fox just smirked at her, "That monster may be strong… but he isn't that smart."

…

The monster continued to stomp his machine across the land, and he could see the forest up ahead. "Sagwa my sweet, it I your love…"

"Please tell me where you are my sweet little dove."

Suddenly the shrubs near the tress began to rustle. The monster assumed it was her, but,"Surprise lover-boy!" Falco shouted as he drove a land-master through, and caught him by surprise.

The monster gasped, and realizing he had been set up, he quickly leapt his machine out of the way, and his features hardened to sheer anger. "I have been fooled, so it would seem."

"Now I'll destroy you all, with my machine!"

"Wanna' bet…?" Erin called as she flew overhead in her Arwing.

"Not while we're here…!" added Donny as he flew alongside her.

"Get him!" I finally jumped in as I leapt from the bushes with my staff at the ready.

The monster realized he was caught in an ambush, but he wasn't willing to go down without a fight. "One, two, and then comes three…"

"Take this you, straight from me!" and he fired his plasma-beams right at me, and it looked as though I had had it as smoke blew everywhere, but I had really used my staff's barrier to trick the monster, "HI-YA…!" and I leapt through the smoke and shot at his machine's legs with my fire-element attack. It did do some damage but not enough to stop him…

Still… now he was intend on getting back at me for tricking him once again. I ran and rolled out of the way of his machine that was chasing me, and even shot at him again, "I'll make you wish you hadn't done that…!"

"Look at you running like a cowardly cat!"

But Falco saw this as his que, to get ready with his missile-gun, he waited for my signal, which was once I put up my barrier… and he fired.

KAPOW!

Major damage was done to the machine, while I was still not even scratched. "Take that you little spunk!" Falco sneered at him. To him that shot felt really good, because he was fed up to the teeth with all his rhyming. "He just does it every time…"

"It's always rhyme, rhyme, rhyme…"

He gasped, and pounded the controls, "Now he's got me doing it!"

Donny and Erin sighed, but keeping up with my idea… we continued to outsmart the monsters, until finally his Machine had taken so many beatings, that it fell to bits on the scene, Leaving the monster a horrible wreck, and I held at pinpoint with my staff, "Freeze!" I snapped at him, "Don't move…!"

The rest of the team huddled in close completely surrounding the creature.

…

It turned out that the monster was really just a lonely creature from Aquis, he ran away seeking a new home as no one on Aquis treated with any respect, even his ingenious inventions that could help make life easier, and he was laughed at and turned away…

So he moved to Papetoon and lived under the lake near the Fox-Village, but living all alone at the bottom of a lake can be quite sad, and irritable. That was the main reason he wanted Sagwa… and he only made threats because he was desperate.

The village was willing enough to forgive him and graciously allowing him to live with them in peace, under the circumstances that he only uses his technology to protect the village, and in time… share and teach things that he knew to those who had an interest in advanced technology.

With our mission successfully completed, all of us, even Fox returned back to the ship. Even though Sagwa would miss Fox dearly, she began to realize that Fox was in love with Krystal. "I guess it was just a case of unrequited love…" she decided, but she got over it instantly.

…

_**Meanwhile**_…

The Great-Fox left its orbit, and headed back out into space…

I was in the lounge with an ice-bag on my head. All that rolling around and dodging that I did gave me one heck of a headache; it was well worth it knowing another mission was completed.

"At least Fox and Krystal managed to patch things up." I said. "Can you imagine if he actually had to marry Sagwa just like that?"

The others had a feeling they knew what would happen… Sagwa would probably be smothering him day and night, and making him feel that he couldn't step outside without her worrying about him.

"Say… where are Fox and Krystal anyway?" Slippy asked.

"I think I know where they are…" Erin smirked.

…

They were on the observatory-deck, with the lights turned out, and they were slowly doing the Fox-Trot to the music over the speakers, and their dance ended with them sharing a soft kiss together…

_Still… not one of us noticed that the planets were almost in the strangest of positions that Andross was secretly waiting. "It will not be long now… heh-heh-heh…!"_


	19. Apprehending Andross: Part one

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

This was the beginning…

This was the day…

Andross was gazing out at the Lylat-System's planets as they continued to fall into place. _"The time has come…"_ he sniggered. _"The planets are nearly in place. Soon they shall align… and my power will begin to increase with Solar's rays."_

His power core, generator was now at ninety-percent. His evil laugh seemed to echo throughout all of Venom.

_**Meanwhile**_…

Another day aboard the Great-Fox meant another day patrolling in space. All of us had finished our breakfasted, donned on our uniforms, and reported to the bridge for duty.

We also seemed a little bored because lately Andross hadn't been showing himself very much, or launching any attacks. Still… that was no reason not to go on patrol.

Some of us thought that maybe Andross had given up on us, but like always the rest of us assumed that Andross was up to something really big, which would account for him being so quiet.

Just then, we all noticed that Slippy seemed a little tired, as if he either woke up early, or didn't get much sleep last night. His big face was glued in front of his computer-scanner, and a confused expression was on his face.

"Uh… Slippy…?" Fox asked, but Slippy didn't respond. "It just doesn't make sense…" he did however say.

Erin looked over Slippy's shoulder at his screen, and she became as confused as he was, "That's weird…" she said. "The planets are falling into a very rare alignment..."

She moved out of the way so that everyone could see, and it was determined that the planets would be aligned with half the planets on one side of Solar, the other half on another end, and Venom would be getting the most of Solar's rays standing all by itself at the top.

Donny suddenly got a feeling, "You think… this is what Andross has been waiting for, do you?"

A brief moment of silence had begun, and Peppy whipped out his history book about the Lylat-System. It was a special book that could explain all about the system and all the events that could happen, including the planets current alignment.

"Ah… here it is…" he said. He explained to us when the planets were aligned, with Venom standing all on its own, as the closest one to Solar, Solar's rays would shine for the first time on Venom in hundreds of years, and they would also be strong enough o actually pierce through the pollution and make its way to the ground.

"Cut through the pollution… is that even possible?" I asked.

Peppy then explained how the pollution consisted primarily of vapor which contained poisonous materials such as toxins and burnt fuel. "When vapor is warmed by a source of light and heat, it evaporates…"

What he was trying to say was, when Solar would be shining on Venom, a large section of the pollution would be shoved out of the way not be as dangerous and corrosive. "You don't think… we'd be able to actually head into Venom would you?" Krystal asked.

Even ROB calculated that the chances of a safe entry into Venom would be possible, _"However… the possibilities of a no safe return journey are also possible."_

Another moment of silence occurred, and then Donny asked, "How long until the alignment is complete?"

Even Fox agreed with what Donny was thinking. We all did as many calculations as we could and we ever reported to General Pepper, who was well aware of what was going on as well, and he asked us to report back to base immediately.

It was time for us to start preparing ourselves for the most perilous adventure of all. It was time to head for Venom…!

Once back at the base on Corneria we spent the next few days prepping the ship; upgrading it's hull, shields, and weapons so that it would be able to move closer to Venom without being affected by the pollution. Same with the Arwings too

As for us, we were also taking special suits with us. Even though the atmosphere would be clearer where we would be exploring, it would still be quite harmful. Not to mention we also were presented with new weapons.

Laser-riffles… plasma shields… even info-red-vision visors on our helmets. This remained Donny, Erin, and I about the Bounty-Hunter games we used to play back home.

"Too bad this isn't like the ion-steel." I said, "That stuff was sweet."

"Oh yeah I hear that…" Erin agreed.

"Yeah… but the platted-spandex was the fastest… remember?" added Donny.

Krystal couldn't understand it, "How can they be talking about video-games at a time like this?" she hinted at the fact that we were all heading on a mission so dangerous, the odds of us surviving were 50:50.

"They're trying to keep their minds steady." Fox told her. "See… they know that this isn't a video game, and they also know that no matter how good they may seem to be that doesn't mean they can't be shot-down."

Even Falco had to agree, "They're a strange lot those guys… but they're the finest I've ever seen, and to think, they only used to play games."

My siblings I were feeling slightly scared, but if we wouldn't go off to fight Andross, who would? We couldn't let him win and take over the Lylat-system. Not after all the kind things everyone had done for us…

Besides… what was to say that Andross wouldn't just go off and attack more corners of the galaxy, including our own solar-system? The Earth wouldn't stand a chance against him…!

No, we couldn't let this go on any longer. The time had come to confront Andross, and put an end to his schemes for good.

Finally… the Great-Fox was ready for launch, and General Pepper was giving us his best wishes.

"Star-Fox team… X-team. The time has come!" he said to us, "You're heading directly into the jaws of the enemy. There will be no hiding from Andross, he'll know that you'll be coming, be rest assured he will go after you."

"No one knows who or what else you will come across on Venom. At the moment, there is nothing left I can do but with you good luck, and god-speed to you all."

Fox saluted to him, "Thank you sir!" and the rest of us saluted with him. Pepper saluted too, and then we headed off into space. Well just continued to stare down at Corneria until it was to far away to see amongst the stars. "Oh… to think we may not ever set down upon her again." said Krystal.

Fox gently kissed her neck, and comforted her. The rest of us sighed softly. Nevertheless, we continued to monitor the equipment of our now super-ship. By the time we would reach Venom, the alignment would already have started, and the pollution on Venom would start to wear down a bit…

So for the long duration of our trip, we all spent our time exercising in the gym, and training with the virtual simulations. Then we would just ease up and rest, as overworking it would not be a wise thing to do.

Krystal also noticed that Fox was right; Donny, Erin, and I did seem to miles away in our own thoughts. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"We were just thinking…" I said. "Back at home, we faced a lot of super bad-guys in all the games we played. Usually when we fail, we get to come back and try again."

Erin nodded, "But this isn't a video-game. It's real."

"This means if we mess up here…" Donny cut in, "It's game over for everybody."

Krystal knew how we felt, but she preferred to believe that we all could do it. After all, Fox and the others defeated Andross many times before, and the fact that ever since I and my team had first arrived we've been very helpful and successful on mission. Despite the fact that we had several close-calls, our incredible actions, and bravery couldn't be denied.

We suddenly began to feel a little better, and to be honest, ever since we had heard about Andross and his wicked way we couldn't wait to kick his miserable can… _both ways. After all he was a robot now._

_**Meanwhile**_…

Andross, being equipped with sensors to simulate his psychic abilities, was indeed well aware that we were on our way. _"Well, well… it seems as if we are expecting visitors."_ he sniggered.

While his minions questioned him about launching an all out attack, Andross ordered against that. He was actually hoping that we would be coming, _"This has presented me with yet another singular opportunity."_

He check the planets, and the alignment was nearly in place… and then he checked his power-core container. _"Poor Star-Fox… Poor X-team… ooh they are in for a surprise… Hmm, mm, mm…!"_

…

A few days later, the planets were finally lined up, and suddenly… POW! Solar's rays began to shine they way across space, past our ship, and right into Venom. "Will you take a look at that…!" Falco said.

We all watched as the rays for Solar began to evaporate the pollution before our eyes, this allowed our new-improved scanners to take snapshots of the sector of the planet below. Even with less pollution, the very sights of the world below, "Man… what a dump…!" snapped Donny.

The planets surface consisted strongly of wastelands, and burning landfill. The skies were dark and nasty with acid clouds, and lightning flashing. There were three different kinds of lakes, and rivers, but none of which were flowing with water, but molten lava, and acid-wastes instead.

The only signs of anything close to life were Andross' machines that were about patrolling the planet. "And we've got to head into all that…?" Erin asked rhetorically, but she knew we had to…

"ROB…?" Fox called, "How long do you estimate the alignment will last for?"

ROB did his calculations, _"Sensors indicate no more or less than twenty-four hours."_ He said, _"Once the alignment has passed, the pollution will begin to take over the planet again. I advise you return to the ship before then. If not… you will be destroyed."_

All of us had chills running down our spines, "Thanks… we really needed that." Falco muttered sarcastically.

Regardless… now that we were close enough, the time had come to get all our weapons and gear together, and head down to the planet now the pollution was out of the way.

We all marched down the halls of the ship on our way to the Arwing-Bay carrying our riffles in one arm, and with other weapons tucked on our pollution-suits. "Fox, do you really think we'll be able to find Andross down there in all that…?" I asked.

"We might…" Fox said. "But maybe we won't have to. If he's really expecting us… maybe he'll come to us."

We clicked a switch on our suits which activated our helmets as we climbed into the Arwings. _"Star Fox check…!"_ Fox called from inside his helmet.

"_Clear…!" _answered Krystal.

"_Clear…!" _added Falco.

"_X-team, check…!"_ I called to my own teammates.

"_Check…!"_ answered Erin.

"_Roger…!"_ added Donny.

Range clearance was given, and off we went, clearing the ship, and heading straight for Venom…

The pollution clouds were even grosser up close than they were on the pictures that we snapped back on the ship...

"_The clouds are starting to get thick…"_ Fox said, _"Activate info-red screens."_

Once the screens were changed it was much easier to see where we were going, or what lay ahead.

We cleared the atmosphere entry and were now leaving off beginning our forward flights. _"All right… this is it…"_ Fox said, _"Everyone stay close, and don't wander off."_

We all agreed at stayed alert…

Trying to fly through Venom courses was like flying through an exceeding tough labyrinth. Obstacles and hazardous conditions were everywhere; it was as if the planet itself was angry about us coming in uninvited, and trying to get rid of us…

"_Man… forget about Venom; try calling this place Hazardous"_ said Donny.

"_Hazardous? Not bad… I kind of like it." _said Falco.

_**Meanwhile**_…

With the thickness of the pollution worn down, and Solar shining directly on the planet, Andross had hidden panels set on the surface that began to absorb the rays and transfer their energy directly to his base…

His power core generator was slowly gaining more power, much to his pleasure, _"Hmm, mm, mm… excellent." _he hissed. _"With all this power at my disposure… I can easily conquer the Lylat-System and many other star-systems beyond."_

Finally his powers core was at a-hundred percent. The time had come… he sat himself down in his throne, and hooked up wires and cables into his robot-body. He began to transfer all the power he had received into his systems…

His body jolted, and sparked, and glowed vigorously. _"I can feel it…!"_ he thundered as his body began to morph and transform into a completely new, and stronger version… _"The very power and energies are pulsating within me!"_

When the transformation had finished, Andross was now larger, stronger, and even uglier looking than before…

So that was what he was absorbing power and energy for, and now that he was transformed he planned to test his new powers against the team first. _"Heh, heh, ah, ah, ah…!"_

He concentrated very hard, and a cosmic-glow began to shine on his hands…

…

Up on the surface…

The six of us were still scouting the planet, and we still could find nothing that could even possibly lead us to where Andross was hiding… when suddenly…

"_Huh…?"_

"_What's going on…?"_

Our ships were starting to move downward, and the steering controls weren't responding. _"Something's pulling us in!"_ cried Falco.

We all continued to try the controls, _"It's no good, they're frozen…!"_ cried Krystal. _"They won't work!"_

We were heading towards the ground fast, and it looked as though we were going to crash, and event the ejection units weren't responding _"Everybody, hang on!" _cried Erin.

We all braced ourselves for impact, but just before we collided with the ground, a secret gateway on a mechanism opened wide and swallowed our ships right in, and down a long shaft...

Finally our ships had landed on by themselves _"Is everybody okay…?" _Fox asked. We each responded, but neither of us had any idea where were.

"_Wherever it is… I don't like it one bit."_ Donny said.

We all departed our ships, _"There's got to be a way out of here somehow…" _Krystal said as we looked around for another way out.

Then suddenly, POW… everything seemed to light up, and we realized that we were in some underground refinery. _"You're not going anywhere Star-Fox team… nor are you X-team…!"_ a sickening voice hissed throughout the air.

Fox recognized it anywhere… _"Andross…!"_ he sneered under his breath.

As for Andross, wherever he was out there in the refinery, his voice continued to call out to us, _"You've foiled my plans for the last time. Now I have you all exactly where I want you. It's time for you to answer to my NEW-FOUND POWER…!"_

From within his throne-room, Andross opened his mouth wide and released a huge fireball that soared through out the refinery, leaving small burn marks everywhere it went.

"_Uh… anyone get the feeling that we're in trouble?" _Falco asked with concern.

Then suddenly, I saw it, "_LOOK OUT...!"_ I shouted, and I jumped out of the way to me left, but all the others moved to the right where the fireball had landed and POW… trapped them within a large fire-cage.

"_Guys…!"_

"_Mykan…!" _cried Erin.

I tried to cool down the flames with my staff's ice element,, and Krystal did the same from in the cage, but the flames didn't even seem to flicker, but instead grew larger and hotter.

"_Yo' guys are suit-temperatures are rising!"_ cried Donny as he checked his wrist-computer. What made matters worse was their suits were only built to withstand pollution, but not the flames themselves. So they wouldn't be able to run through the fire…

And to top it all off, the flames were getting hotter by the minute, and soon they would all be roasted to nothing. _"Mykan…!"_ Fox called to me,_ "You… you have to go… find Andross! HURRY…!"_

Even though I knew that was nearly suicidal to venture forth all by myself, but if I wanted to save the others I had no choice. _"Okay guys… try and stay strong!"_ I said as I ran off into the refinery.

The flames were growing hotter every minute, even the ice element from Krystal's staff didn't cool them down. _"Mykan, you must hurry!"_ she cried.

"_Hot!" _Donny groaned, _"Too hot!"_

Even though I was out of range for the suit-communicators to work, I could still hear the others crying out over the distance. I wasn't bound to let them down, not for anything.

Even though I had never been in this refinery before, I seemed to be able to tell where I was going by the burn marks on the walls, and the sound of Andross' wicked laughter echoing along the walls…

This not only informed me where he possibly was, but it also led to believe that there was a breathable atmosphere in here, otherwise how would the fire, or Andross' voice be able to travel smoothly along the air.

So I deactivated my helmet and continued to rush forth into the unknown, "Where are you…?" I yelled, "Show yourself!"

Andross laughter was getting the louder, which could only mean I was getting closer. So I continued to run down the way. I kept going, and going, and finally I stopped in my tracks when something caught my eye in the chamber I just passed…

I backed up a little and walked into the chamber, and there he was, sitting on his throne laughing deeply. _"Hu, hu, heh, heh, heh…! Welcome to my lair, Mykan McClian."_

My eyes narrowed him, and I gritted my teeth, "At last we meet, Emperor Andross!"

Andross nodded his head, _"Hmm, mm… yes. I've been wishing for this day for quite some time."_

I angrily showed my fist, "Be careful what you wish for, or you might just get it."

"_Oh… I'll get what I wish for all right. Too bad you can't say the same."_ Replied Andross, Then he summoned forth his army of robot-guards, _"Now attack!"_

The robots charged after me with their blasters, but it was a good thing for me that one of my suits functions was it was impervious to small ray-blasts, and I still had all my other weapons on me…

My laser-riffle… which I used to knock out some of the droids.

My smaller blaster, which came in handy when my riffle gave out, and of course I still had my staff to take out the last ones. Then I turned to face Andross, "Okay big guy, your turn!"

Andross simply grinned wickedly at me, and the motioned for me to even try. So I charged towards him, but he shot me with a blast from his eyes, and I slammed into the wall. _"Ha, ha, ha… looks like you missed me."_

I got right back up tot my feet for another stab at him, only to have him shoot me again, and I hit wall a second time. _"Missed me again…"_

I was really steam-up now, but this time when I charged him, instead of blasting me, he used his telekinetic powers to pick me up and hold me in midair. _"You might as well give it up, Earthman!"_ he sneered at me, _"Your pathetic skills are no match for my power. Your friend's should be withered away to nothing by now, and soon you shall join them… Ha, ha, ha…!" _

I gasped, and realized that the others were still in danger…

…

The flames had become so unbearable; the others were collapsing to the floor. _"My-kan… help… us…!"_ squeaked Erin.

"_I can't… take the heat…"_ cried Fox.

Falco was nearly passed out already.

…

The thought of the team losing it because of me only inflamed my strength and determination. "You'll never… UGH… beat us… MMM… Andross…!" and suddenly I was moving; defying Andross grip on me, _"What…?"_

I managed to raise my Staff, and blast him right in the eyes, _"B-ARGH…!"_ this caused him to completely lose focus, and freed me entirely from his telekinesis. _"I… don't understand it…"_ Andross said, _"You shouldn't be able to over-power me. GRR! I must have this strength of yours!"_

It seemed as if I had finally discovered Andross' one weakness, "You'll never possess what I have Andross. Even if you weren't an android…" I said to him, and I place my hand over my chest. "My strength doesn't come from my weapons, or my vehicles, but my strength comes from within… the strength of believing in myself and in my friends… I HAVE A HEART…!"

"_Heart…?!"_

My anger had finally reached its peak, "It's time to end this… once… and for all!"

Andross growled angrily and tried to blast me again, but this time, I evaded his every blow, and even caused him to shoot at the controls causing them to spark, and flare up. Even some electrical wires were dangling loose. "Heh…!"

"_DIE, EARTHMAN…!"_ Andross roared, but as he tried to shoot me again, I leapt high up, somersaulting over his head, and grabbed the wires. "TAKE… THIS…!!" I shouted as I pressed the wires hard on his metal body causing the electrical currents to shock him violently…

"_WHOA-- AAAAAHHH…!"_

…

The fire cage around the team dissolved. _"Hey… Mykan must've done it."_ said Donny.

Suddenly, the whole refinery began to shake, and the walls began to flare up and explode. _"Whoa… I think he really did it!"_ cried Falco.

"_Quick…! To the Arwings!"_ cried Fox.

Without Andross' controls holding them down, the ships were free, and the others were able to escape…

_Andross wasn't going to stand for this! As his android body began to break up, he reached over and pushed a big red button on his chest that was still working …_

…

The five Arwings managed to escape from the base just as it went up in a big blaze of fire, and they touched down on the surface and hopped out. _"We made it…" _cried Krystal. _"But wait…! Where's… Mykan?"_

More explosions erupted from the area of the base, and everyone had a sickening feeling in their stomachs. _"MYKAN…!" _Screamed Erin.

"_BRO…!" _added Donny

Fox held back his tears, and angrily threw his blaster hard at the ground. _"GRR-AGRH…! No! We survived… but he didn't!"_

But just then… I hopped down from a pile of rubble, _"Hey guys…!"_ I called. _"I made it…!"_

Everyone looked up and their features and emotions changed, as they ran towards me, _"Mykan…!"_

The girls collided into me with a huge hug, and the guys bopped my back._ "Hey! Way to go Mykan!"_ Fox cried for joy.

I slapped him a high-five, _"Yeah… I guess that's the last we'll see of Andross."_

"_I wouldn't bet on that…!"_ thundered a huge voice from above as giant shadow fell over us. We all looked up and saw Andross as a HUGE HEAD… and two humongous hands. _"Haaa, ha, ha, ah, ah, ah…!"_

"_You only destroyed my fortress. So I shall return the favor and destroy the whole Galaxy, and I think I know just where to begin."_ And with that he began to head off into space shouting out, _"That's correct McClain's… I'm heading for your home planet!"_

Donny, Erin and I all gasped hard. _"He's heading for Earth?"_ Donny cried.

"_He can't… we can't let him!"_ added Erin.

"_ANDROSS…!"_ I shouted up to him. _"YOU WON'T GET AWAY…!"_

But he was already out of sight…

_**To be continued**__**…**_


	20. Apprehending Andross: Part Two

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

On Planet Earth, thousands of light-years away… it was the year 2051…

_That's right, 2051._ Donny, Erin, and I had been missing for well over a year and a-half, and pretty much everyone had given up the search, and even… well… declared us dead! They had a funeral, caskets, and gravestones… the works.

Even our parents and former schoolmates were horrified by this. They just wish they knew what happened to us. Our father's business was even starting to go bankrupt due to his absence…

When he first realized Donny, Erin, and I were missing, he put everything he had to get us back. His time, his money, everything…

After a while he stopped going to work; he just quit caring…

Nobody was more broken-hearted over this than our father, and he spent more of his time walking around the apartment and gazing into the three empty bedrooms, the never been touched in a long time game-machines, and he even went for very long and slow walks around the city gazing at our favorite places.

"What happened to you, kids?" he kept asking himself over again, "Why did this happen…?"

_**Meanwhile**_…

Somewhere out in the blackness of space, Andross who had taken less than a day to get from the Lylat-System was now on his final approach to Earth. _"Heh, heh, ah, ah, ah…! So this is that place Earth in which the X-Team originated from."_ he thought to himself, _"For such a primitive planet they do seem to produce worthy adversaries… shame though, for now it's all mine for the taking."_

"_I shall annihilate those who aid the X-team, and the rest of the people of Earth shall be conscripted into my new army of slaves."_

"_Heh, heh, heh… HA, HA, AH, AH, AH, AH…!"_

…

The people of Earth, in America were going about their own business that day without any idea of what was about to happen…

It suddenly began to grow dark in the middle of the day. The people began to look up and saw something huge blocking out the sun. A huge-gorilla head and two enormous hands, and a huge voice booming out…

"_People of Earth… I am Andross, lord of all star-systems. You're planet is now in my control, surrender peacefully or face my wrath."_

To prove he wasn't bluffing, Andross began to attack the city. Blowing up empty buildings, tearing up the streets, and hurting many innocent people… This caused an outbreak of panic, and chaos.

The military even launched their fighters, and missiles at the monster, but Andross' powers were just too much. The jets were all shot down, but the pilots ejected safely, and the missiles didn't even scratch him due to the fact that they were so small.

"_Ha, ha, ha… you pitiful, insignificant fools…!"_ Andross mocked, _"Now sit back while I show you the true meaning of power…!"_ and he began to blow all the military weapons and bases into scrap-heaps, even the bravest of the soldiers began to flee in panic.

Andross just couldn't stop laughing, _"I am enjoying this! Ha, ha, ah, ah, ah…!"_

_**Meanwhile**__**…**_

Far away in the Lylat-System, we all made it back to base, but Donny, Erin, and I just couldn't stop pacing nervously around the briefing-room. "What are we going to do?" Donny asked for the umpteenth time.

"You can start by keeping still for one thing…" Fox said, "You're making me dizzy."

Krystal placed her hand over his, "Fox, take it easy. Can't you see they're all so upset?"

"No kidding…" Erin said, "An evil psycho is attacking our home planet that's totally defenseless against him, and you're telling us to keep still?"

Fox felt small and nervous, "Ah, heh, heh… sorry?"

General Pepper came back in with bad news, "I'm sorry team, but I'm afraid there isn't anything we can do about the Great-Fox's thrusters." he told us. "Our simulations have shown and established conclusively, that that's' as fast as they can go."

Peppy nodded, "If we add any more speed to the thrusters they could break the ship up." he explained, "And even still it would take us hundreds of years to even get halfway there."

My siblings and I sighed, "What's the good news?" I asked sarcastically. Then I quickly realized that I overreacted, and I apologized, but this still didn't help us.

"I hate to say it guys... but it doesn't look like there's much we can do now." Falco said.

As much as all of us, particularly me and my team hated to admit, but for once it looked like Falco was right. Andross was holding all the cards now. He was far, far away, and we had no idea of what was happening to the poor people of Earth, and with no possible way to reach it…

"_Time…!"_ Pepper said. "The one thing that's beaten us is _time."_

My head slowly started to perk up, "Time…?" and then I realized, "Time…!"

"Mykan…?" Krystal asked.

"Hey, hey… try to calm down." added Fox.

…but I explained to the others, "No, no… I think I have an idea."

I explained to them and asked if they remembered the last time we made it to Earth; that time in which we accidentally warped back to Earth, but a-hundred years in the past.

The others did remember, and then they caught onto my idea. If we could just find that green-field again, maybe it would get us back to Earth quickly. "Easier said than done…" said Slippy, "Remember, Andross closed that field up months ago when we were barely able to get back."

Everyone remembered that, even I did, but that's when Pepper had a theory that ever since Andross' fortress was blown-up on Venom and now that he was no longer here, "The chances are that some of his evil doings have been disarmed."

That was a possibility, "But wait…" Krystal cut in, "Remember what happened? We still wound up in the Earth's past, and we were treated like hostile aliens."

"Yeah… but remember, we were out of control and traveling at the speed of light." Peppy said, "Now that the ship's been upgraded, the chances are that we might be able to control it more easily."

"Well… what are we waiting for?" I said, "Oh… uh… with your approval sir…?" I asked to General Pepper, but Pepper was not only willing to allow this, but he was personal going to come along with us. "I want to see that Andross busted down to size no matter what system he's in."

With no time to lose… we all headed straight for the Great-Fox, and plotted our course. Once on our way towards the sector where the Green-Field was Fox still wondered about one thing, "What are we going to do about Andross?" he asked, "He's bound to be much stronger than he was before."

I motioned for Donny and Erin to huddle close to me, and I explained them about a plan that we used once during a game play that was exactly like our present situation. "Yeah…" Erin said softly.

"Totally...! It might just work."

Then we asked the others to huddle close as we explained our idea, and they all agreed, even though it was risky, there was no other option that would be safer, without endangering the people of Earth more.

"But who's going to take the chance…?" Falco asked.

There was a long moment of silence, and then Fox decided, "I'll do it…"

"Fox…?" Krystal said in worry, but she knew there was no way to talk him out of it. Even General Pepper was worried for Fox's safety, as it was not guaranteed, but it was one life against countless, and another star-system of countless beings to come.

Slippy and some of us left for the Arwing-bay to begin tinkering, while the rest of the crew remained on the bridge. Once we approached our first destination, we were right all along…

With Andross gone, the green-warping field form the Lylat-System to our Solar-System was there again. Now it was simply a case of passing through it but not going so fast. "ROB, try and guide us through safely." Pepper said.

"_Affirmative…"_ answered Rob, and he took over the controls, _"Five seconds to contact…! Three… Two... One... Zero...!"_

The nose of the ship collided with the green-field, and slowly began to slip deep within its mystical glowing. The field itself even passed right by us inside the ship, and it tickled slightly, but damage was done.

Once we came out from the field, Erin couldn't believe her eyes. "It's really there…" she said as she gazed through the view-port, down upon a beautiful planet called "Earth…"

She asked ROB if his sensors could determine the accurate date, and ROB reported, _"The standard Earth time is 12:14 pm. The day is Thursday. The Month is March. The year is 2051."_

Erin buzzed in to those of us in the Arwing-bay. "Yeah… we heard." I answered, "But keep your game faces on. Getting here was just the easy bit."

Everyone agreed and began to scan and calculate whatever happenings were occurring on Earth, and what they saw nearly turned their blood cold…

A lot of the cities were badly banged-up as if a meteor-shower had hit. Nobody was killed, thank goodness, but many were injured, and the rest… Andross had already enslaved them and forced them into hard labor.

Even Donny and I could see it happening in the Arwing–bay, and what really fried us and Erin up was when we saw Andross giving punishment discipline to two familiar adults. _"Mom… Dad…!"_

That clenched it, we had to hurry and get down there before Andross did anything worse. So we all worked as fast, yet as effective as we could. Finally, Fox's Arwing was ready. General Pepper, Peppy and Slippy stayed behind to keep the ship in orbit. "All Arwings prepare for launch!" Pepper said.

"We're ready sir." Fox said.

I let out a huge angry breath, "Look out Andross! HERE WE COME…!" and we all launched our ships and headed down to the surface. "Do you think they're going to make it?" Slippy asked nervously.

Even Pepper hoped so. "They have to Slippy. All our hopes and lives depend on it."

…

Andross had pretty much everyone in marching along, in chains, and carrying huge boulders. Anyone who slacked off, even in the slightest, he gave them a-hundred volts from his powers. _"Back in line, Slave!"_ he thundered.

He was really enjoying himself. A whole planet he could rule with an iron-fist. No weapons strong enough to take him down, and best of all, No Star-Fox, and no X-team…

However… he spoke too soon when he could sense something familiar with his telekinetic-skills. _"Oh, no… it can't be!"_

He looked round and saw the six Arwings charging straight towards him. _"GRR…! Don't these brats ever give up?"_ and he fired his ray-blasts, but we all dodged them perfectly and shot him back with our lasers. It didn't hurt him, but it did confuse him for a moment long enough for us to move in closer.

"Give it up, Andross!" I called to him, "We're obviously too much for you to handle."

"We followed you this far…" added Fox, "And now we're going bring and end to you for good."

Andross anger was boiling, _"You rotten no-good pests. You're all FOOLS TO CHALLENEGE ME!"_ and he began to rise up into the air where he could confront us. _"I am all powerful now."_

"You call this powerful? Picking on a planet that's weaker than you are?" Falco mocked, "You're more pathetic than we gave you credit for."

"_ENOUGH…!"_ Andross growled. "We shall see who is greater. Just you wait!" and the fight was on!

While Fox Falco and I remained in combat against Andross, Krystal, Donny, and Erin took the chance to touch down and free all the slaves. A lot of the people were amazed and psyched out by Krystal.

_A real live alien on Earth…? Who wouldn't be…?_

Our parents couldn't believe that we they were alive, to actually think that this was how we came home…

"Wait… where's Mykan?" our mother asked.

"Up there…" Donny said pointing at the other Arwings. Our mom fainted, "My baby!"

Our dad caught her as she fainted, but he too was just as concerned, "It's all right sir…" Krystal told him, "Just have faith in your son."

My dad didn't know what to believe, seeing as how he was talking to a human-sized, purple-blue vixen. Then again, I was flying my Arwing perfectly, even way better than most air force pilots. So he began to rekindle his faith.

…

Three against one, but Andross made it look like the battle was equal. Most of his shots missed us entirely, as ours missed him… and any attacks that did hit did hardly any damage to anyone.

…But we were moving higher and higher into the air, and getting Andross to move further away from the surface… _just as we planned._

Once we were high enough, the battle became fiercer as we began to use our nova-bombs to attack, and they actually did cause Andross some damage. _"I'll make you wish you hadn't done that!"_

He opened his mouth wide for his trademark-special; the suction blow-out attack! "Fox… do it now!" I called.

"Right…! Here goes…" and Fox headed right into the suction current and dove his tiny ship straight into Andross' mouth, unnoticed.

Krystal gasped hard, even though she knew this was part of the plan, "Please… Come back to me safely Fox." she cried under her breath.

Erin and Donny place their hands on her shoulder, "Don't worry Krystal… I'm sure he'll be fine." Donny said.

Erin nodded in agreement, though she too had her doubts.

…

Inside Andross' head, Fox found it really hard to control with the air current, but he knew he had to hang in there. At least there was air so he could breath. "Awe, man… I sure hope this works." He mumbled as he set a countdown timer to sixty seconds…

That's right… his Arwing had been rigged with powerful explosives, and were now set to blow Andross up form the inside. Once the timer had started, Fox carefully lodged the Arwing in tightly so that it couldn't be blown back out…

Then he hopped out and began to head for the mouth on foot. "Eww… since when does he brush in here."

…

"_UGH…!"_ Andross suddenly felt a tickling inside his mouth. "_What is this…?"_ he growled, _"What's going on?"_

Falco and I exchanged looks of hope as perhaps the plan was working, but suddenly, Andross began to blow out his massive breath trying to get whatever it was lodged in his mouth, out.

The debris of rock that he had sucked in began to blow out everywhere. "Look out…!" cried Falco, and we both steered out of the way.

While inside… Fox had to duck down to avoid getting by all those boulders… but this was causing him to waste time, and he only had twenty seconds. Then he got an idea and leapt right out and caught a boulder and rode on it like a surfboard…

"WHOO-HOO… HANG-TEN HIGH…!" he cheered.

Then POW… out he went through the mouth and he began to plummet below, "GUYS…" he called to us through the communicators. "GET OUT OF THERE!"

Falco and I nodded and sped away, I flew downward and scooped Fox into my ship's cockpit safely, and then…

"_What's… happening…?"_ cried Andross…

3…

2…

1…!

ZERO!

"_GAAARGH… NOOOO…!"_

_**KAPOOOOOOOOOOOOW…!!**_

Everyone on Earth shielded their eyes and hit the dirt, and as the explosion began to fade out, they all reopened their eyes… and THREW UP THERE HANDS CHEERING THE LOUDEST ANYONE EVER HEARD!

"We did it! WE DID IT!" cried Erin.

Krystal couldn't stop jumping for joy.

And Donny could just keep going, "Yes! YES! YEAH…!"

Falco Fox and I were cheering happily ourselves. Fox and I kept slapping high-fives… and even the guys on the Great-Fox were cheering for joy. "Head down to the surface..." Pepper said, "I think there's bound to me more joy and cheer waiting for us."

…

Indeed there was…

When the Great-Fox had touched down, all the people of the city were there to greet the whole team, and reporters were just going wild. So many stories had hit the papers…

"_Familiar Faces Found. Aliens Arrive"_

"_Human Heroes and Freakish Friends…."_

"_Out form these world discoveries."_

Donny, Erin and I were invited to many conferences to explain about our adventures, and the Aliens were all given thousands of questions, but once the world had acknowledged and welcomed the Aliens with open hearts…

Then began a bold a wonderful project… The reconstruction of all the damages caused by Andross…

General-Pepper even had his men fly in form the Lylat system though the green field… which even lead to a new discovery.

The contents of the green-field were easy for Slippy and Peppy to contain tans control and morph into an intergalactic space-warp which would connect the two systems together for easy transport.

This was joyful. Really it was…

It meant that… not only would we not have to ever say goodbye to Fox and his team, as we could easily just warp from there and back, but the Earth and the Lylat system even formed an alliance.

For the very first time in history, Humans, and extraterrestrials had met, and formed peace, and you can bet that Donny, Erin, and I got huge rewards for this; being the first humans to ever have physical contact with alien life forms, as well as our heroics for defending the Earth from total disaster.

For one thing, we never had to go school anymore. Nor pay taxes. Unfortunately it also ended our careers as the world's greatest gamers… but we didn't care as much. After all… who wanted to play a silly old video game, when you actually LIVED IT?

So we were given true rankings by the United-states Air force, and by General Pepper himself. From that day forth, The X-Team was made into a real team of mercenaries…

Captain Mykan McClain…

Lieutenant Erin McClain…

…and Ensign Donald _"Donny"_ McClain…

With aid of the Lylat-system's technology, the cities were all back to normal, and even well upgraded. Now that the two systems were aligned, and technology evolved, w began to send some of our finest people to the new System to learn more about it, and to further initiate our peace…

The Lylat system did likewise…

The best part was… if anyone would ever think of performing terrorism again, The Star-Fox Team, and the X-team would be there.

As for Fox and Krystal… well…

They decided to have their wedding on Earth. It was the biggest most beautiful wedding of all times; this was because there were so many guests, half being form the Lylat system.

Fox and Krystal were married, and nobody could've been happier for them. As they left for their Honeymoon, which was planned to be on Sauria, just as Fox promised Tricky. Fox left me in charge of the team, ad the new lieutenant commander of the Star-Fox team. "You got it, Fox… and have a good time."

Fox and Krystal smiled, and as their Arwing with the _"Just married" _sign on it left for space, Krystal tossed down her bouquet, and Erin caught it. "Ooh…?"

…

_**(OPERA RECAP)**_

_It all began not long ago when somewhere on the planet Earth.  
__These three great gamers, they were good and showed the folks what they were worth.  
__But far away somewhere way out there in the dark deep depths of space,  
__These strangely creatures seeming to have roamed all round the place  
__By accident a tractor beam had hit the Earth from far above,  
__Abducting the three gamers forcing them to leave behind the things they love.  
__They wound up in a system that was light years far away from home.  
__And would they ever come back? The answer was more than far unknown.  
__But even so, being far from home, among their problems was the least,  
__For Andross, a big emperor, had returned as a robot-beast_

"_**For Andross, a big emperor, had returned as a robot-beast"  
**_"_**For Andross, a big emperor, had returned as a robot-beast"  
**_"_**For Andross, a big emperor, had returned as a robot-beast"**_

_By using their skills they had triumphed over Andross' minions  
__And so they chose to stay and help out, which was the right opinions  
__They fought many creatures on planets, asteroids, and in space.  
__And they became quick heroes amongst all of the Lylat's race._

"_**They fought many creatures on planets, asteroids, and in space."  
**_"_**And they became quick heroes amongst all of the Lylat's race."**_

_The McClains, we thought they were dead we'd given up all of our hope.  
__We had no thought that they were in a system where they learned to cope.  
__Amongst all of the fighting's, and the sticky situations.  
__They struggled on to fight, and spar, and keep up their dedications._

"_**Amongst all of the fighting's, and the sticky situations."  
**_"_**They struggled on to fight, and spar, and keep up their dedications."**_

_The danger suddenly grew worse, when Andross grew more powerful.  
__He fled the Lylat-system, came to Earth, and made things sorrowful.  
__The Earth was quite the sitting duck, we could not fight we were too weak.  
__But the brave heroes, finding a way back to Earth were what they seek…  
__They entered a green field in space and warped right back to this poor place,  
__And using all the weapons and skills they picked from outer-space.  
__They cornered Andross mocked and forced into a great big fight.  
__And with swift thinking they blew Andross up, way out of sight._

"_**And with swift thinking they blew Andross up, way out of sight."  
**_"_**And with swift thinking they blew Andross up, way out of sight."  
**_"_**And with swift thinking they blew Andross up, way out of sight."**_

_With Andross gone and peace restored, this was a great day filled with much.  
__For aliens had come to earth, made peace with us, and even such._

_They helped us rebuild up or world then began newfound peace,  
__Amongst the Lylat-System and the Earth's entire populace._

"_**They helped us rebuild up or world then began newfound peace,"  
**_"_**Amongst the Lylat-System and the Earth's entire populace."**_

_And now the Earth it has evolved, and with the gateway not too far out there.  
__Our races can now live amongst all things so far.  
T__he human race and aliens have been united now as one.  
__Thanks to the McClain siblings and the Star-Fox, we've had such fun._

"_**The human race and aliens have been united now as one.  
**_"_**Thanks to the McClain siblings and the Star-Fox team, we've had fun."**_

"_**Thanks to the McClain siblings and the Star-Fox team, WE'VE… Had… SUCH FUN!!"**_

…

_**(Pictures flash by)**_

_**The other Members of Star-Fox…**_

_**General Pepper…**_

_**The X-Team.**_

_**Fox and Krystal at their Wedding.**_

_**THE WHOLE TEAM… SALUTING**_

_**WE'VE… Had… SUCH FUN!!"**_

"_**STAR-FOX RECRUITS!"**_

_**THE END**_


End file.
